Happy New Year’s Ladies!
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to sit down and reflect upon past endeavors and make plans for the future. Be it short term or long term goals, now is a good time to make your plans.
Many WAHMs out there are busy (when aren’t we busy) setting ideas to paper as they begin a fresh, new year. However, many resolutions that will be made will be doomed to fail, simply because of the career path we have chosen, so I resolve this year to keep my fellow WAHMs from disappointment.
Ladies! Stand with me now and recite the New Year’s WAHMolutions:
1. We resolve to tackle each new day as it comes, each new task as it presents itself, each new disaster with as much grace as humanly possible (when the baby tore off his diaper, the cat lovingly placed a token of her affection on your keyboard, or your oldest son forgot to do his homework – again). We will live in the moment and not plan too far ahead, as who really knows what will happen when you have kids? And we will always remember, we are investing each and every day in the future – our children’s future.
2. We resolve not to sweat the small stuff, be it small children, small animals, or small holes that have appeared in our carpets. We will let the dishes sit in the sink because at the end of the day, the kids don’t care if they eat out of the dog’s dish as long as we’re there to watch.
3. We resolve NOT to be supermom. Need we say more?
4. We resolve to eat take-out food more often, consider Ramen noodles their own food group, serve Macaroni & Cheese at least once a day, and generally avoid any type of meal that smacks of ‘gourmet’ (please refer to resolution number 3). Further, we resolve to believe that if it isn’t sticky, or if falls within the 10 second rule, it’s still clean.
5. We resolve to ignore the extra weight gain from sitting at a desk most of the day, ignore the wrinkles, the lack of makeup, the pony tail or clip in our hair, the untweezed eyebrows, unmanicured hands, and clothes with second hand chocolate (or Macaroni & cheese) that are a huge part of us. The kids do not really care what we look like, and if our husband does, let him try being a WAHM for just 1 week. We dare him.
6. We resolve to take time as often as possible to take a bubble bath, a sauna, do our nails, put on makeup, whatever little things make us feel human. We must stop to do this now and again. It isn’t selfish and the kids will understand.
7. We resolve to never lose sight of why we are doing this….why we are overworked, stressed out, and tired. We love our children fiercely and want only the best for them. Even if we are working long hours in front of the computer, we are still available to kiss a boo-boo, look at a freshly painted picture, stop an argument, make lunch, make snacks, play barbies, make a Lego castle, discuss Yu-Gi-Oh, catch a bit of Dora the Explorer on TV, explore, find, and dream with our children. And THAT is what really matters.
About The Author
Debbi Cunnington is a work at home mother of 3 children and the owner of 2 successful freelance businesses, both creative at http://www.bearcreative.com
There is a growing wave of retired female workers getting in on the massive amount of money to be made in the home based business field. The list of products and services that the older worker can provide is almost endless. Older workers usually come from the school of thought that if a job is worth doing it is worth doing properly and this gives them an edge in modern business. I know I would trust an older person to do a job right, more than a younger less experienced person.
The empowering effect of a retired female worker. augmenting a restrictive retirement income or better yet, getting off welfare and starting her own home based business is inspiring to witness.
BENEFITS OF A HOME BASED BUSINESS
One of the biggest problems facing retired people is the amount of idle time they have when they leave the work force. It can lead to depression and feelings of general worthlessness. Both of which can be dealt with quite effectively by starting a work at home business.
AVOIDING SCAMS
It is not painless though, for the retired female worker who decides to take this route. Many obstacles that she has never come up against before will be encountered, and if she has no support or guidance in the ways of modern business, it can be challenging to say the least. Some of the difficult things that a retired female worker is likely to encounter are the ever-present Internet scams that seem to raise their ugly head at every corner you turn. A person with no experience in the wicked ways of an Internet scam is much more likely to fall for the phoney riches they promise.
The most common of these is the multilevel marketing company that does not follow the government rules and regulations for how they sell their wares to the home based business operator. This can eat up the very limited capital that most retired female workers have to spend on starting up their home based business. One of the others is discrimination from young males in the business who deem the world of Internet marketing as their own domain.
HANDLING DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination in the business world was a major issue for most of the retired female workers when they were young. Sadly this oppression of woman was just accepted at that time. In this day and age discrimination and discriminatory attitudes can land a company or person in very hot water. There are a few organizations out there that cater to the specific needs of the retired female worker who wishes to start her own home based business. These organizations will provide information on how to deal with discrimination and will also provide help with almost any facet of starting your own home-based business.
RESOURCES FOR THE MATURE WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR
AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, is an organization that caters not only to retired female workers but also to older workers in general. AARP is a North American organization that caters to people over fifty and will help to provide information on pretty much anything that concerns older people such as health, investment and small business information, Medicare and where to find the best insurance.
There are however some sites that cater to the specific needs of the retired female worker and one of them is called WAHM. Work At Home Mothers is set up to provide support and advice to any female with children or grandchildren that has a vested interest in starting or continuing a home based business. This can range from financial backing without the discrimination hassle or just counseling for when things get too tough to handle on your own.
Another site on the net that is dedicated to women is the MLM woman’s newsletter. This newsletter reviews problems and solutions specific to the needs of the home based businesswoman that is involved in multilevel marketing. Any retired female worker that wants to start a home based business can rest assured that there is plenty of support out there and you do not have to go it alone.
About The Author
Ted Riley is an entrepreneur and educator interested in teaching others on the benefits and rewards of having your own home business. He writes frequently for the web site “A Grandmother’s Business”, a web site dedicated to the needs and equirements of the mature woman entrepreneur and job-seeker. To see more articles like this visit: http://www.grandmabiz.com/
