new mom, in love with my baby, needs online job until baby can be in school. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with tutoring. That can be $50/hour or more, depending on your expertise.

On odesk? Or you mean in the real world?

[Anonymous]

Employers know that anyone looking for a "work form home" job, off the bat, so to speak - are useless. Surprise!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For people suggesting Etsy...you not only have to be crafty, but incredibly creative and doing something nobody else is doing. There are so many sellers on Etsy, you'll get drowned out.

This. Etsy shops don't come pre- made and stocked. If you're not already good at product photography, branding, and a fair bit of marketing, in addition to making whatever whatsits you plan to sell, plan to spend a lot of time learning before you sell anything. Stock is a constant concern, too. Etsy suggests having something like 50 listings in your shop at any given time. You can cheat a bit by having listings for custom orders, etc., but without a significant amount of ready-to-sell stock, your shop will be overlooked in search results (add SEO, particularly Etsy's wack-ass version of it, to your learning list).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start a drop-off playgroup in which you can include your child. People will pay for this.

I'd never do this if the other parent were a stranger. Major liability issues etc.

[Anonymous]

Unless you have oodles of time to devote to it, anything you do to start your own business or sell junk takes too much money and time. Find a weekend job.

[Anonymous]

I heard that Amazon was hiring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tutoring. There can be some very good money in that.

Yes, but not for kindergarten teachers. People I know who make good money tutoring are either doing upper level math or science (chemistry, physics), or a foreign language.

OP, if you are fluent in another language, there's a market for language classes for young children. That's something you could do out of your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work p/t from home while being a f/t mom. If you can find a position w a flexible work schedule, it can be done. My dd sleeps 3-4 hrs a day and goes down at 630-700. I work during the weekends when I need to. I enjoy having the best of both worlds and I'm not stressed doing it.

But what do you do?

And what will you do when your daughter isn't napping anymore??

I work in communications for a technology company. My daughter still naps and starts preschool this fall. She will be there for three hours a day, 4 days a week. If she stops napping, I will still have the same amount of time available while she is in school to focus on work. And bedtime will not change. I can get four hrs of work done during the night, each night during the week, if needed. I works for me and our family. My husband is also very hands-on with dd and household.

[Anonymous]

Mystery Sopping is fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mystery Sopping is fun.

I"m a mystery shopper. It IS fun. But it's not a career. You basically make some pocket change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mystery Sopping is fun.

I"m a mystery shopper. It IS fun. But it's not a career. You basically make some pocket change.

I started it just to get out the house now I make over $400/week and don't even need childcare.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PPs that it is next to impossible to work in any type of job that requires you to think without having childcare. But honestly, my biggest impediment to working at home/working remotely, is that my job requires me to be on my laptop - which is like crack to my kid and has been for months. His only goal is to be able to touch the keyboard, screen, power cord, etc - and he is tough to fend off. So yeah, no more working from home for me.

[Anonymous]

OP, when during the day do you plan to do this online job? Kids don't nap forever. You child is only 5 months so you are being quite idealistic. You know they start moving around and need to go to the park and be with other kids, so you can't be working online. You can't work without childcare, so you will need to do something that you can include your child and future children, like the playgroup suggestion or nanny share.

[Anonymous]

A reputable employer will require child are while employees are working.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am a former teacher, and pull in about $800 a month tutoring. I tutor 2 evenings a week and on Saturdays. But be aware that is it takes away some of your family time, and your husband has to be committed to being home on time on tutoring evenings and around all day on the weekend.

As a Kindergarten teacher, I am assuming you are certified and have expertise in programs that teach struggling kids how to read. You can charge anywhere from $40-$55 an hour for that kind of help, depending on the area you live in and your training. I know that some folks charge even more, but that is generally for high school. It's hard to convince a parent to pay more than $40some for tutoring a 6 year old. Market yourself to former parents from your private school, and you will get more clients through word of mouth. The tutoring companies keep 40% of what they charge to parents. So, they may charge the parent $50 an hour and you only earn $30 or so, and then don't forget taxes and gas. So, I would try freelancing first.