A little over two weeks ago, I was privileged to attend a one-of-a-kind workshop organized by Martine de Luna of Dainty Mom and Ginger Arboleda of Manila Workshops. Dubbed “It’s a WAHMderful Life,†the workshop was specifically for moms who want to work from home, or are already working from home. (There was one brave dad in attendance though!)
I learned a lot from the speakers and different panelists at the WAHMderful Life workshop. During its conceptualization and planning phase, Martine actually invited me to join her and other work-at-home moms that I know (and am oh-so-blessed to be friends with!) to a brainstorming session for the content of the workshop. I wasn’t able to attend though, because hubby and I went to a pro-life prayer rally at EDSA.
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
In case you didn’t know, the work-at-home mom or WAHM set-up is becoming more and more popular these days. With so many advances in technology, especially the Internet, more and more mothers (and people in general, actually) are going the work-at-home route, either by telecommuting for their respective companies or working freelance for local or foreign clients.
Of course, working at home is not as easy as it seems especially if you’re a mom. I can say this from experience because at the moment, I am what you could call a “semi†WAHM.
The publishing company I work for, Shepherd’s Voice Publications, just started a work-from-home scheme for its editors this year, and I am so blessed (though at times, stressed, too! Ha, ha!) because of it. I only report to the office Thursdays and Fridays (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and work from home (and homeschool our kids!) the rest of the week. Of course, when there are “deadline days†and other urgent publishing schedules or office-related matters, I still need to go to the office, even if it’s not a Thursday or a Friday.
During those days, I feel a bit guilty about leaving my kids at home with our househelp-cum-yaya, especially when my six-year-old says, “But today’s not Thursday. You said you only have to go to the office on Thursday and Friday!†Funnily enough, he is sometimes more “clingy†than our three-year-old girl. Though she also has her crying bouts of “I don’t want you to go to the office! I want you to stay at home with me!†occasionally.
At those times, I wish with all my heart that I were a fulltime WAHM. Wait, no. Scratch that. I actually want to be a fulltime stay-at-home mom who just happens to write (and, hopefully, make money from it) on the side. Attending the WAHMderful Life workshop helped me realize this again. It also made me start dreaming and planning and praying again for the future — a future when I can completely take charge of my time and devote it to what matters most to me: my family, and, at this point in time, homeschooling our kids.
That’s why I was completely inspired by all the speakers at the WAHMderful Life workshop — they all are homeschoolers in their own way and have all chosen to be intentional in everything they do. The encouragement and tips I got from hearing these moms speak are helping me craft a vision and mission for myself as a wife and mother.
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
Martine was homeschooled during the last two years of secondary school and is now homeschooling her three-year-old son. At the same time, she is a freelance copywriter and does other freelance work for various clients, many of whom found her through her award-winning blog, Dainty Mom.
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
Toni Tiu works from home fulltime as a strategist and social media manager for Balsam Brands but still manages to play intentionally with her toddler, and we all know that toddlers learn best through play! She also finds time to blog at Wifely Steps, which was included in Little Steps Asia’s list of Best Mom/Dad Blogs for 2012! Toni recently wrote a post about the tips she shared with us at the WAHMderful Life workshop and you may want to read it here.
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
Marge Aberasturi, the mom behind The Happy WAHM and VA Support Pro, runs her own virtual assistant business while homeschooling her two younger kids (aged nine and seven) at the same time. And, take note, she does all this without any household helper or yaya! Marge credits a lot of her success as a work-at-home-homeschooling mom to her husband. (Thank God for our husbands, right?)
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
Michelle Padrelanan, a fellow homeschooling mom blogger, has also started working fulltime from home as a social media strategist for Balsam Brands. Prior to this, she was a freelance writer and product reviewer, mostly doing reviews on her blog, Beyond the Silver and the Gold. Michelle homeschools all of her four kids and, like Marge, she does everything without a helper!
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| photo by Manila Workshops |
Jennyfer Ang Tan has been working from home as a freelance virtual assistant for a couple of years now. She used to homeschool her son, but has stopped ever since he was diagnosed as being twice-exceptional (he has Asperger’s syndrome). He is now enrolled at Headway School for Giftedness. So now, Jenn juggles working at home with taking care of the needs of her husband, their school-going son and their toddler.
You may be asking, “How do these moms do it all?†A lot of us at the workshop asked the same thing. And all of the speakers said the same thing, though in different ways: “You just have to manage the life that you have.â€
I’d like to end with something that Martine said that has stuck with me until now, which I also wrote about on my blog: There is no such thing as a work-life balance. There will never be a balance. But there will be a dance.
Here’s to more dancing than trying hard to balance everything then! Go ahead, dance with me!
P.S. Read more about the WAHMderful Life Workshop on Dainty Mom’s blog here and check out more photos on Manila Workshops’ Facebook page here.