Stay at Home Moms

I was hoping to get some advice from other SaHMs out there. Mostly by circumstance, I became a SaHM and have now decided to make it a more permanent change (I cannot imagine leaving my daughter to go back to work now). My daughter is now 11 months old and she is able to "do" a little more. We go to the library programs in our area all the time, but I am looking for something a little more fulfilling (for me).

Have any of you:

-Found volunteering opportunities that allow you to bring your child along because of your husbands crazy work schedule? How/Where did you find them and what are you doing?

-Found a playgroup or babysitting co-op in your area? How/Where did you find them and how are they working for you?

-Been able to work from home to make a little extra "fun money" and help the bills balance out? What are you doing? How is that working for you?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Chrisada]

I've been a SAHM mom since M1. DH is an M4 now. We had enough money saved for me to just stay home the first year. But since then I have watched a few kids at home.

Perfect because I'm still home, get paid, and my sons have playmates. I only do part-time, three days a week. But I will not be watching kids once DH is a resident. We actually live on less than a resident's salary now.

I have been trying so hard to volunteer and have contacted places, but have found no luck. I signed up to bake for a hospice, filled the application and everything, but they never got back to me.

I'm in a MOMS group through the Catholic churches here. We meet every two weeks and childcare is provided for. The resident spouses here also have a play group. I was invited, but DH thought it would be weird since they are his bosses.

I am also a SAHM by circumstance (I was laid off right after DD2's birth). I don't do any volunteer work and do not know of any that would allow me to bring the monkeys along.

As far as a moms group, I was on the Knot with a group of girls when I got married. We all had babies around the same time and were posting on the Nest and we started planning get togethers on our local Nest board (parenting type boards are now on 'Thebump.com'). After 5 months of that I created a private message board like this one for our group and it's grown to 60 members accepting friends of friends only. Other places to meet other moms are on meetup.com, MOPS.com, and library story times as well as 'open gym' at local kid gym or bounce places.

I'm still collecting unemployment as I cannot find seem to find any job in my field. I'm going to apply to a very part time work from home position that I heard through word of mouth and hopefully could take with me when we move. I paid for a 3 month hiremymom.com subscription but didn't find anything there when I was a member. Another resource is wahm.com.

[DCJenn]

I started working out with Stroller Strides and ended up being trained by them as a teacher which was great- I got paid to exercise WITH my son, three times a week.

Jenn

OT: I LOVE your signature. I am often explaining the difference between Trauma Surgery and emergency medicine.

I feel really lucky that I get to be a SAHM and have a chance to do all the things you mentioned .

--Volunteering: our church has a Teen MOPS program (support group for pregnant teens or teens w/ kids), and I volunteer with the childcare. Since it's childcare, needless to say I can bring my kiddos along .

--playgroups etc: I'm involved with the regular MOPS group, and a group called Side By Side for medical wives
http://www.cmda.org/AM/Template.cfm?...ContentID=7537
(there's starting to be more chapters around the country now...)
I also just started going to a parent-ed class through the public schools which is really cool.

--working at home: I do online tutoring with Tutor.com. I've been working for about 2 months now (after doing regular tutoring for years), and I must say it's a perfect fit for me. I work at night when the kids and DH are asleep, there's no prep work...just helping whoever comes my way with their homework, all on my computer. I do chemistry, but the website offers homework help with many different subjects, if that would be up your alley .

Good luck finding stuff that would be a good fit for you!

[SuzySunshine]

Katie got here before I did, I also do MOPS and Side by Side which have both been great ways to meet people and have some me time.

We also have a playgroup of the wives in our department. Does one of your area churches have a Mom's Day Out? We don't have one here but we do have a childcare option I use about once every 3 weeks.