So That's Where Babies Come From

So, I'm hanging out yesterday with Sporty Boy and Drama Princess and my parents came over for dinner. While where all talking before dinner, my father is talking about our big family camping trip on Labor Day Weekend when we camp at a dairy farm. Drama Princess talks about how she wants to see the pigs. We tell her there are no pigs. How about chickens? No chickens. So my father tells her that there are only cows, but there's a lot of them. Sometimes some of the cows even have babies while we're there.

Drama Princess drops her Potato Head and stares at us with this look of total confusion and says "Huh?!" After a minute, I realize she thinks he meant that when the cows have babies they have what she thinks of as babies - human babies. So, I quickly explain that he meant baby cows. She lets out a big sigh of relief and goes back to playing Potato Head.

Then my mom says she saw a movie once with scientists using cows for human babies.

Yes, this is dinner conversation at my home.

My Kid Travels More Than Me

My son, Sporty Boy, is leaving this weekend to spend two weeks with his grandparents in Pennsylvania. It's really nice for him, since we don't get to see that much of them. But, it's weird to have him away for so long. He's been doing it for a few years, but I'm still not used to it. He already went away for a week earlier this summer with my sister and her family. I've been nowhere this summer. And he's also spending the night at his day camp tonight.

It wasn't until I started packing a few things earlier today for his overnight tonight that I realized I haven't given a single thought to packing for his other trip. It totally would have sucked if his grandparents were ready to leave with him Sunday morning and I had nothing ready. It's not that he needs that much stuff. He's 10 (actually he'll be 11 this weekend), so he probably won't put on different clothes until his grandmother makes him. But, I do need to pack him some stuff. And instead of doing that I'm putting it off even more by wasting time here on the computer.

My 3yo daughter, The Drama Princess, is pretty excited about his going away. She keeps talking about how it's going to be "a big day" when Sporty Boy's gone (a big day is a really good day). Last night when my parents were over for dinner she even serenaded us while she played the piano with a song about it. I believe it went something like "It's going to be a big day, because Sporty Boy's going away. So he won't be able to yell at me just because I'm near him. It will be a really big day!" I was so proud. It will be kind of nice to get some one on one time with Drama Princess and a break from their arguing. But, it also means I will be the only one around for her to play with and talk to in the afternoon. And she talks ALL THE TIME. It should be interesting.

I still feel weird about him going away though.

The Job Search and Daycare

When I was first laid off, we decided to keep my younger daughter attending her preschool/daycare. I am looking for work and if I get another full-time job, we figured it would be easier to keep her in her regular routine. We thought if we pulled her out and then had to bring her back when I went back to work, it would be hard for her to go back. And we'd be taking a chance that she could lose her spot there and she really likes it there. It would be hard to find something else and somewhere she likes as much.

It's been a month and I am still not working. Right now, she's still going to daycare every day, but I take her later in the morning and pick her up earlier. I feel awful about doing this. I hate taking her there when I'm going to be home. I am very busy most of the day online and on the phone for my job search and trying to get my Virtual Assistant business up and running. That would be more difficult if she were home with me. But, I still feel bad about it. Plus, I'm still paying for the daycare. Yes, it is coming from my severance pay, but if we weren't paying the daycare, that money would last longer. If I do end up getting the Virtual Assistant business going and am able to work from home permanently, I would keep her home all the time until Pre-K next fall. But, right now I don't know if that will happen or if I'll have to take another outside job.

If I can't pick up any kind of business in the next couple of weeks, I will have to start keeping her home. We really shouldn't be paying that much money right now when we don't need to. How do other mothers who are looking for work or working from home with children at home handle this?

Having Trouble Getting Going

This week marked a month since I was laid off from my job. I had decided I was going to take it slow looking for a new job since I had a severance package to fall back on. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to line up some Virtual Assistant clients to be able to work from home full time. So far, nothing's really happening. I've had a couple of interviews with recruiters, but I don't expect much to come from that. I haven't found any job postings that really would work for me.

I've tried making some contacts with potential Virtual Assistant clients, but no bites yet. I've basically scoured Craigslist for people looking for admins that could telecommute. By now, I should have at least gotten some business cards together, but I haven't. I planned to set up a website, but haven't done that either. And it's not like I'm getting so much more done around the house and that's why my job search is lagging. I'm still getting the bare minimum done around here.

I need to really get on the ball now. Start getting out of bed earlier and get going. Get more done around the house and make a concerted effort to get my business going. I should probably get started on that now.

Could Being Laid Off Be the Best Thing Ever?

I didn't see it coming. I had absolutely no inkling at all that I would be laid off. There had been sales engineers that I worked with laid off, but since there were only two admins for the whole US sales force, I figured I'd be safe. So, it was quite a surprise when I heard the news. I'd like to say I handled it like a professional and a grown-up. But, I can't. The words weren't even all the way out of my boss' mouth before I started crying. Loudly. Thankfully, there were only ever a couple of people in the office at any time, so there were very few witnesses. I was so upset and my boss was so busy apologizing, I had to excuse myself and hang up the phone before I could get all of the most important details - that I was getting a severance package. All I heard was that I was laid off and my last day was in two days. I called my husband and cried to him and wondered how we would survive with no money the following week and no benefits. Luckily, my wondering didn't last long. I did get a severance package and we can go on benefits at my husband's company. I realized there are a lot of people worse off than me. To be totally honest, I only realized that after my second martini.

I am determined to turn this lay-off into a huge opportunity. I've always wanted to try to work freelance from my home. That would provide more flexibility with two young kids and all of their activities. I'd made a few half-hearted attempts in the past. But, between working full time, spending time with my kids and husband and trying to keep the house in some sort of minimally acceptable order, it was impossible for me. I'm going to use the time I have now to make a real push at finding clients and establishing myself. The income from my severance package will allow me several months to give this a real try.

I've spent the past few days researching potential clients and various organizations that hire virtual assistants. I'm putting together a promotional letter and e-mail and will be getting business cards next week. I have already contacted a few companies I worked with at my previous job since I had a personal relationship with them already. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I guess that's enough time spent on blogging today. Back to the business of starting my business.

How Ironic ... I've Been Laid Off

I might be a liar. I've used the words "working mom" in my blog name, but before I could get around to writing my first post, I was laid off. Does that mean I'm not a working mom? I did do laundry today, which I always found to be more work than any job I've had. My jobs were always administrative support positions, which allow me to spend most of my day sitting on my butt reading blogs -- I mean working hard making spreadsheets and whatnot. I will not be able to laze away my days doing laundry for too long. My severance pay will only last so long. So, technically, I believe I am still a working mom.

I'll have to start a job search soon, although my dream is that I can find enough freelance virtual assistant work that will allow me to totally work from home or at least only have to work part-time outside the home. I'll chronicle my adventures here on my blog. Tune in regularly.