Anonymous wrote:Outside of sales and call center jobs, what are y'all doing that you work from home full time?

Oh wait, this is DC, "government contractors".

NP here and I'll bite. I manage grants all over the country. I have one grant in DC and the rest are spread throughout the US, including Hawaii and Alaska. I'm the only one who works on these grants so there's no one in my office to meet with. Why can't I work from home?? I don't WAH full-time, but rather 80%.

Anonymous wrote:The dilemma is - - - if it's already part time, can you get time off for vacation. The full time working spouse will want to go on vacation. Or you might need to visit family out of town. Can this work?

Unfortunately (truly unfortunately) many part time jobs are just an inconvenience for the family and not much else.

I am the one with the Master's degree who works as a legal receptionist Mon-Fri 8:30-1:00. The limited vacation time is a downside, and I will make no bones about it. I had previously worked my way up to 4 weeks off / year when I was full-time , but then went I went to 50% hours, naturally that was halved as well, to 2 weeks / year. That is TOUGH.

However, in some ways, it does sort of work well for us to have one parent who works long hours (my DH) but who has flexibility b/c he is higher up in his job (can come in later if he needs to, can leave earlier if he need to, etc.) AND to have one parent who works limited hours (me) which are not flexible (b/c I am low on the totem pole here at my office), so I basically *HAVE* to be here 8:30-1:00. It's not like I can say, "Oh, I have a PTA coffee this morning after school drop-off, so I'll be in at 10:30, ok?" NO. My boss would look at me like I was crazy b/c I already HAVE the "flexibility" of leaving every day at 1:00 and then being the full-time parent from those hours onward. So, that kind of sucks sometimes. If my daughter has a play at school and it is scheduled for 10:00 am, guess which of us attends? Daddy. But Mommy is always there for school pick-up and all afternoon activities and homework. That is how my DH and I have worked it out. He's there for the ad hoc things that come up in the hours I am at work (8:30-1:00. I am there always for afternoons and after-school.

I thought a mom job was when you got the breast lift and a tummy tuck at the same time.

For those of you looking, higheredjobs has a search function that allows you to choose "remote" and it sometimes has administrative type jobs listed.

The word DH and I use for "mom jobs" is actually "joblet". I downsized from a career to a 'joblet'. My definition of joblet or little job is one where they can't call you on the weekend with a crisis and expect you to solve it -- because you no longer have that type of responsibility.

I was promoted at my previous job, but it would have required a lengthier commute and longer, less flexible hours. Instead, I resigned for a position that cut my commute from 75 to 15 minutes each way, paid me slightly MORE money, and allowed for me to work more consistent hours (get to work at 7:45, home by 4:15 most days). I also have more PTO in the new position. I can't do any teleworking and within the work day there isn't much flexibility, but I consider it a step closer to a mom job than my previous job.

I think there has been a shift in thinking for both genders. My parents generation saw more stay at home moms and husbands that worked long hours and were absent from the home a lot. Now there are many couples that I know that don't subscribe to that philosophy. They want a balance for the man as well as the woman. More dads have flexible jobs too.
If you feel fed up with your situation look at it and see what you can change. Are you working long hours to afford a big beautiful lifestyle? If that fulfils you Great! If not, can you sell your home and scale back your life in any way to have less pressure to earn. This is what I do. But I want it for the whole family not just me. Someone told me once that you will never look back on you life and wish you'd worked more. It stuck with me.

I don't think my company would consider what I do a mom job - they pay me $120K and I produce what I think are pretty high level "deliverables" - but I have a LOT of flexibility which is huge. I work from home 2 days a week sometimes more and though I tend to work traditional hours, can shift things when I need to be a school etc.

I think if more companies allowed for flexibility there would be more moms willing to work for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are we calling these "mom" jobs? Because dads don't care enough about spending time with kids to demand a flex-time job?

Dads have to work a lot to support these moms who work mom jobs.

I am the PP who has a "mom job" as a graphic designer. My husband also has a flexible job that allows him to earn enough to support us without my income, and spend time with our child.
He telecommutes from his home office to his job on the west coast (we are on the east coast). It's awesome because it allows him to start work at 11am our time. Every morning he walks our daughter to school then goes for a long walk, jog or bike ride himself. He's always able to take a break and have dinner with us. The downside is that he works till 8pm.
I'm definitely all for my husband having a low stress, flexible work life balance. I'm not ok with having my mom job while he slaves away and never sees us

Outside of sales and call center jobs, what are y'all doing that you work from home full time?

Oh wait, this is DC, "government contractors".

Anonymous wrote:What work is more critical than the good care of our children? Without that, we're doomed.

I think you are confused about the topic. A mom job specifically allows for you to be there for your kids when they are not at school. It's the best of both worlds (OK, to me it is).

Anonymous wrote:What work is more critical than the good care of our children? Without that, we're doomed.

Why are the two mutually exclusive in your mind?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work from home full-time with occasional travel and make $180k. So is mine a mom job or not?

In another thread, someone mentioned their "mom job" and how happy it made them. What exactly is a mom job and where would I look to find one? I'm currently in a job I hate, with zero time for my kids and husband (not to mention me). I am desperate to make some changes so that I can actually stop shortchanging my kids, but I'm not sure how to go about this. Any thoughts? TIA.

[b]

Are you unhappy, with zero time for yourself, your husband, and your shortchanged kids?

If not, no, you are not who the OP is speaking to, and you lack reading comprehension. Probably good I left the workforce at your salary back in 07 to take on no job, then a Mom job, because if I had to work with people like you these days my tolerance would be so, so low. Kids are way more kind and rational.

People like me? Exactly what does that mean?

What work is more critical than the good care of our children? Without that, we're doomed.

Anonymous wrote:I work from home full-time with occasional travel and make $180k. So is mine a mom job or not?

I work from home four days a week and make $140k. My job is definitely not a mom job. And my salary is critical to support my family.

Anonymous wrote:I work from home full-time with occasional travel and make $180k. So is mine a mom job or not?

In another thread, someone mentioned their "mom job" and how happy it made them. What exactly is a mom job and where would I look to find one? I'm currently in a job I hate, with zero time for my kids and husband (not to mention me). I am desperate to make some changes so that I can actually stop shortchanging my kids, but I'm not sure how to go about this. Any thoughts? TIA.

[b]

Are you unhappy, with zero time for yourself, your husband, and your shortchanged kids?

If not, no, you are not who the OP is speaking to, and you lack reading comprehension. Probably good I left the workforce at your salary back in 07 to take on no job, then a Mom job, because if I had to work with people like you these days my tolerance would be so, so low. Kids are way more kind and rational.