Moms’ Prosperity Network | Kelly Smith

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Childcare Solutions for WAHMS

Ok, so you may be working at home to be with your children but there will still be times when you want a little “me time”, “work time” or even a date out with your significant other. Here are some creative solutions to temporary childcare. I have to say because I worked in child-based programs for a little while with my children I ran into a few other moms or child care providers who wanted to share weekends or offered their time. And the bonus is, I know them as moms and how they are around other children. Because they worked with me they also had to be certified in first aid, CPR and babysitting courses. Woohoo!

One of my new favorite ideas I just discovered it the “party nanny”! What a great concept!

If you are a work at home mom, you probably became one so you could spend more time with your children. However, there will most likely be times in your business when you will need to arrange for childcare. The following are some creative solutions to your childcare dilemmas.

Party Nanny?
WAHMs in direct sales are very often faced with childcare predicaments. A main portion of their business is conducting sales presentations, usually held at someone else’s home. If you are a party plan WAHM, the most obvious choice would be to schedule these presentations when your partner can watch the children, but what if your partner has an odd work schedule or you are a single parent? You can hire a local high school student to come to the party and be the “party nanny”. Check with the hostess first, but she will probably love the idea (and so will the other guests, since they won’t have to worry about getting a sitter for their children, they will be more likely to come to the party and the more guests you have, the bigger your profits!).

Sharing Mommies
If you just need an occasional sitter, try setting up a “child care group” with your friends and neighbors. Each woman can designate a time frame on a certain day of the week or month to be “the sitter”. Any of the Moms in your “child care group” who need a sitter that day can drop their kids off at the “designated sitter’s” house. The children will get to play and interact with one another and each Mom can get free childcare on an “as needed basis”.

Free or Low-cost Options
Check with your place of worship as they may offer a “Mom’s Day Out” type of program where you can drop your children off for a few hours per day, a couple times per week. This may be a free or low-cost service. Also, check with local library as they may have “story hours” where you can drop your children off and the librarians will read the children a book and after the book is read, the children can participate in a craft, game or activity.

Other Part-time Options
If you just need some “quiet time” to do some work, you can hire a neighborhood teenager to come over and play with the kids while you are tucked away in your office. You will have some uninterrupted “work time”, but will still be there in case ‘something comes up’. If you have regular meetings that take you away from the house, check with friends and family to see if they can help out by watching the kids. Offer your product or service in exchange for their time. They may jump on the offer! There are lots of options these days. I know our city offers part-time nanny services. They are usually older women who come in on a day to day basis when you need, they charge by the hour and they are not only certified cpr/first aid but also have life experience of raising their own children already. I think we have so many options in our city and mommies jump at the chance to share “mommy time” is because we live in a city where many moms’ husbands work in the oil industry and are gone for long periods at a time and are almost considered single moms.

And don’t feel guilty if you need to put your children in daycare part-time. Yes, you may have had every intention of working at home in order to spend time with your children, but, there may be times when your business will need your total focus. By taking that time and completing your business tasks, you will be able to focus 100% on your children during family time.