Working Girl

Here's a question:  Does everyone get the emails that read "Moms! You can work from home and earn up to $10,000 a week!" I mean, I get INUNDATED with them! How do they know I'm a housemom? Is it based on the times of day or the frequency of my Facebook posts? Maybe.  That's why I'm curious if anyone who posts midday more than once or twice gets targeted.  And is it just assumed that stay-at-home moms are bored and have so much time on their hands they need a filler?  Probably by some.  And there certainly are moms out there who are but I'm guessing that in order to earn $10,000 a week you're probably working constantly as opposed to filling in the tedious times.

The funny part is I'm probably busier than I was with two babies 15 months apart toddling around and even before that, when I was selling staffing services and commuting four hours roundtrip three days a week! The only difference is now I can pee with the door closed, choose to stay in my jammies past 7:00 a.m. most days, and choose where, when and for whom I work. I DO work from home already...I am the CEO of Bishop, LP with duties including but not limited to bookkeeping, cooking and cleaning, writing, and appointment making for everyone in the company. I am available for my mom to take to her appointments and do miscellaneous tasks. On top of that I am a volunteer court mediator two or three days a week spending my mornings gathering some juicy stories for cocktail party fodder and hopefully settling cases filed in various courts.  This one is actually my favorite because I get to actually see and talk to people during working and school hours!

But that's only a few times a week and I'm usually done by noon.  I can't (and won't) clean my house everyday or go shopping everyday.  I'm not sure I have enough creative juices to write everyday or work on crafts and such.  I'm a relatively intelligent woman and sometimes feel I really should be doing something more; especially now that the kids are in middle school. But I don't want to have  to go to work.  I don't want to be torn between getting to work or staying home with my sick child or having to leave work early for appointments or picking up said sick kids from school early.  Or being there when and if my mom needs me.  Of course, if I had to, I would and will if there is the financial need or I can't stand being along with my own self any longer, God forbid.  And I will simply have to deal with these excuses just like every working person does.  But for now I will keep status quo.

There is, though, one thing that has bothered me since my last day or work back in 2003 (yes, I wrote that right!) is not having my own money. Gene and I always pooled our income and have from the beginning of our marriage so paying bills and everyday expenses and even treats have always been paid from one account so the change was pretty transparent once we became a one-income household. But it was a real burr in my saddle when it came to getting things for Gene; I hated that he basically bought his own gifts and I just picked them out. It didn't matter than he said I was crazy to think that.  It's what I thought (and still think).  So I solved my problem and got a job!

Yes, I did just say that I wasn't ready to be obligated to anyone to show up on time or at all.  But I fixed that.  I've become self-employed!  Anyone who is a Facebook friend knows that I sell those Jamberry nail wraps that no one has heard of...yet! I work when I want and if I don't want to I don't have to.  I satisfy my social animal by holding home parties (think Tupperware but prettier) and talking to random people who are nice enough to notice and compliment my nails.  I feed my addiction with my own money and have quite a bit left over. If I really wanted to dedicate the time to it, like many of my Jamberry associates, I could make a really good living at it. This year I'm proud to say that although we used house money for the Christmas presents, I used my money to buy Gene his presents...and they were pretty damn nice if I do say so myself!  I know this won't impress many people but if you haven't been reliant on someone else financially as an adult it's hard to understand how important it is to feel even a bit independent.

So for now I'll be a Jamberry consultant prettying the world one nail at a time and ignore those emails about earning money from home up to $10,000 per month (sure).  When and if I'm ready to go out and get a job working for someone else, it will be something that makes me happy because being lucky enough to be a Domestic Goddess, a Jamberry consultant, and being available when someone may need me "right now", makes me happy and I'm not going to give that up for something unless that something makes me equally as happy...and that's a pretty tall order!

In the meantime, ask me about Jamberry and I'll happily fill you in and send you a sample! Hey, it's my blog so I can shamelessly plug my wares!

~Eileen Cassidy Bishop