by The Happy WAHM
It must be that surprise mention in The Asian Parent article, or something about the month of February, that inspires me to write about the hubby. After having palpitations from the excitement of seeing a link back to my site from a popular parenting site, I went all agog in sharing the link, and stalked all other shares, truly curious on how many women in my extended Facebook network would be interested on having homebased jobs. Surprisingly, there were a number of commenters who left the question: What about something for work-at-home dads?
So since yesterday, I’ve been mulling about writing an article about my very own work-at-home dad. Yes, folks, my husband is a WAHD. So I asked him if I could feature him in my blog. He readily said yes, but no pictures, please.
That was yesterday afternoon, and I have conveniently forgotten about it because there have been a few emergencies at work.
Tonight, in the middle of setting up a shopping cart for a local client, this Deniece Williams song played on my tablet, and it goes like this:
My baby, he don’t talk sweet
He ain’t got much to say
But he loves me, loves me, loves me
I know that he loves me anyway
And maybe he don’t dress fine
But I don’t really mind
‘Cause every time he pulls me near
I just wanna cheer
Okay, stop singing now. But yeah, this song is spot on. And reminded me again of the feature write up that I already have permission to write.
So is it possible for husbands to transition to a work-at-home career?
My answer, and the husband’s, of course, is a resounding YES!
Back in 2013, the company that he served for 18 years was bought out by the country’s telecoms giant. About 80% of the workforce were immediately offered early retirement, while a few were asked to stay on for the transition. Hubby was among those few people who were retained on that first salvo of massive manpower displacement. He was given a consultancy position with a one-year contract. Benefits were taken away, and tenure just went pfffft! The only consolation was that his take home pay went higher, his service vehicle was retained, and he stayed in the same area. Others were not that fortunate, as salaries were drastically cut, and others were assigned to far away places. In that one year as consultant, he felt the dissatisfaction with the management. It just wasn’t the same.
So nearing the end of his contract, we already started planning our next move. I asked him if he’d welcome a home-based career, and he said, why not? He was confident that I could help him. It was during that time that we decided to go ahead with the house extension, so that in case he decides to join me in my virtual office, we will have space. I also wanted to have the expense taken cared of while he was still gainfully employed.
In the same manner that we prepared for my farewell to corporate, we again worked on our numbers. Four months to the end of his contract, I stopped touching his salary. We went into a dry run of how our life would be if there would only be me earning for the family.
The decision to not renew his contract came on the day before it actually ended. There was a call for him to go out of town for troubleshooting. And we decided that he would not go.
It took him eight months before he was finally hired on a retainer position. In those eight months, he took care of almost everything around the house, allowing me more time to focus on my existing engagements and looking for additional clients that I could pass on to him. He’s a technical person, and a desk job is not something that he would really love, but he was at least willing to give it a try. He took an online qualifying exam for a marketing company, passed it, but failed the Skype interview. Please refer to the second line of the song. 🙂
WordPress
Most online jobs that you would come across these days require you to at least know how to upload a post or update a plugin. So I bought him a domain name and set up a WordPress dashboard for him, so he could familiarize himself with the back end navigation. Just our luck that I also conduct WordPress workshops, together with my partner, The Techie Mom, for a living, so he had an in-house WordPress tutor. 🙂
In the end, he landed a job that is in itself a specialized service. That of shipping management, which requires a working knowledge of 1ShoppingCart, Shipwire, and Zendesk. Errrr… I also trained him on these platforms, as I have become a subject matter expert on these over the past five years.
He also became my official computer technician, performing maintenance of my PC and laptop, installing and updating virus protection, taking care of our internet connectivity, and even periodic cleaning of the CPU and keyboard.
At times that I have out-of-home meetings, he pitches in with some of my administrative and research tasks. And I think he enjoys the research the most. He’s very meticulous with data and he goes the extra mile, which I always say is a great VA trait. One time, I asked him to do a research for meat curing equipment, parameters were price, ease of installation and functionality. He surprised me with adding product reviews. And I was like, why didn’t I think of that?
So yes, dads have a place in the virtual workplace, even those without administrative and clerical background. They just need to find that job that will challenge them in a way that they will enjoy. With my husband, it was the challenge of being in a very unfamiliar territory that’s making him enjoy the journey.
I’m still confident that I can give him a run for his money for the Employee of the Year Award, but the best part of having a WAHD in the house is that I no longer have to take my coffee breaks alone.
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by The Happy WAHM
Working for a fitness coach for the past five years had me surrounded with information on every aspect of keeping a healthy lifestyle. We have everything from the food pyramid, to supplements, to just about every meal plan from paleo to vegan to vegetarian and even keto meal plans. But what can I say? Every meal plan that I work on contains something that is just not readily available in the Philippine market (or maybe just not where I’m based) or if it is, it is super expensive that it is not within the budget of a struggling WAHM with three kids, with one who is about to go to college. So I let all the information float around, and pick bits and pieces of them and apply what I can. We’ve already taken up juicing as part of our family diet around the second quarter of last year, and I consider it a big a step towards our goal as a family of taking care of our health a little bit better.
Cleansing is something I’ve been familiar with but have not really taken up since most of the ways I’ve encountered have not appealed to me. Some cleanse diets have combinations of food that I don’t even like, so why bother?
Working on the Juice Hut website late last year took me up close and personal to something that I felt I could consider doing, and love, even. So right after we launched, I decided that it would be good idea to go on a cleanse. I thought I’d try out the one-day cleanse first, and see how my body would react.
I followed the preparation written on the site. My mind was ready, so I was hopeful that my body would be ready, too. I’m a heavy rice eater, and I was a bit concerned about not having to eat any solids during the cleanse. So I really appreciate the guide given at the site about the preparation. Cutting out on carbs at least two days prior to the scheduled cleanse prepared my body for the no-solid day. My stomach was pre-conditioned.
Came cleanse day, and the whole family gathered to watch me drink on the very first bottle in the kit, which is the Lemon Detox. Yes, we are that kind of family, where everyone gets excited over everything, including, but not limited to, Mommy’s cleanse. Questions like, how does it taste? Is it good? What comes after that? Does your tummy ache?
And it was good! No tummy ache. With a little bit of spicy taste in it. I liked it. Not love. But I liked it. I can live with that.
The Cold Buster Orange was for breakfast. It’s a mix of orange, pineapple, carrot and cucumber. I’m all for orange and carrot, but apprehensive of the cucumber. I was expecting it to be bitter because of the cucumber. Surprisingly, it tasted good. So I listed it down as a possible favorite. 🙂
For lunch, I had a bottle of Revitalizing Red and a bottle of Fresh Start. The red blend has beets, carrots, apple and cucumber. Again, carrots and apple are familiar, as they are already part of our juicing regimen, but a little bit apprehensive of what taste the beets and cucumber would contribute to the mix. I have eaten beets in potato salads, but never had beet juice, and I’m not a big fan of cucumbers.
I was in for another surprise, as it tasted good. Another one to make it to the list of possible favorites.
The orange blend has apple, carrot and celery. A big thumbs up from hubby, as he says celery is good for my kidney. He’s been wanting to juice it, but our present juicer can’t handle vegetables. Love this one! Definitely a favorite!
Snack was Pure Almond Milk. This is, hands down, going to be a staple. Already thinking of hoarding a supply.
Dinner was apple, celery, lemon, orange, spinach and ginger. That’s a mouthful of blends, and knowing that it has spinach and ginger in it made me dilly-dally on drinking it.
A very small sip.
No, I don’t quite get the taste.
A bigger sip than the first.
Hmmmm… interesting.
“Marge, why don’t you just take it in big gulps to get it over and done with?”
Yeah, why not?
“It has spinach and ginger, Dad!”
“You’ll survive! Drink it!”
And so I did.
Not bad. Not bad at all. It’s not something I’m going to rave about, but it has good things in it, and I can live with it if I ever need to take it as part of a diet or something. Good enough.
I normally end my days at 12 midnight, but on busy days, I extend my working hours up to 2am. On my cleanse day, I was ready for bed as early as 10pm. After drinking the organic tea that came with the kit, I just felt that my body was ready to relax. The tea had a calming effect, and I started to feel sleepy earlier than usual.
This was me the next day. 
Suffice it to say that my one-day cleanse introduced me to new tastes, and inspired me to continue with our juicing protocol. I really feel lighter these days, getting my nutrients in liquid form. And I can bring a bottle with me anywhere!
For those of you who have the time to do your own juicing, go ahead and invest on a good juicer now. That’s our plan, too, since we have a fast juicer, and it’s not good with leafy vegetables. So this WAHM has to take on some extra projects for that dream Hurom Juicer
But if you are living the busy life but want to have your nutrient boost without the fuss, just go over JuiceHutManila.com and choose your combos. Or better yet, try out a cleanse, just like I did.
Oh, and when you do decide to try out a cleanse, think of getting some extra bottles for your family, too. Husband and kids were all too interested to find out what’s in the bottles that they just had to take a sip from my supply. 🙂
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by The Happy WAHM
Me time.
I’ve been reading a lot about the importance of “me time”, not only for WAHMs, but for all moms and wives out there.
And I get to thinking, do I have a “me time”?
Let’s find out first what “me time” really means.
If “me time” is to be defined as the time that you spend pampering yourself in a spa, having your nails done, getting your hair styled in a salon, or going on a trip all by yourself (or with the husband), then I guess, yeah, I’m not having any “me time” at all!
But if “me time” is simply doing things that make you happy, doing things that mean a lot to you personally, then I am having loads of that!
You see, it’s all about perspective. I used to be envious of people who go out on a trip and have regular out-of-town vacations. But then again, I look back at the few times that my family went out of town, and realized that those times actually left me stressed and tired. Now, maybe that was due to the packing and unpacking for the kids, and taking care of all their needs while we were in an unfamiliar environment. So I tried to remember how I felt when I went out of town on my own, joining some friends for a vacation, and all I can recall is the loneliness of not being able to hug my kids every ten minutes. I would go to a new place and would wonder whether my kids would appreciate being there, too. Or I would be eating my meals and all I could think of was whether my kids were getting fed on time or have been bathed. I would just end up regretting leaving, instead of feeling refreshed.
So what do I do to recharge? How do I keep myself sane?
I just do things that make me truly happy. Like quietly watching my kids do their thing when they think I’m not watching. Giving myself a pedicure… oh yes! I do my nails myself, and have actually saved a lot of money in the process. 🙂 Lying in bed with a novel. Watching NCIS re-runs. Writing down my dreams and turning them into plans. Going through old photos and going back to the time they were taken. Quiet time upon waking up. Catching up with friends on the phone, or chatting with them on Facebook. Or catching up with cousins I have not seen for ages, like what I did last Friday.
While in the middle of motherhood and a negotiation for a project management gig, the ongoing development of my affiliate marketing site, writing an e-book, and the daily activities for the business that I manage online, I received an invitation to a cousin’s birthday celebration. It was an invitation I could have easily said no to, because attending would mean at least five hours of travel round trip, plus all the items on my work queue. And I know they would have understood why I could not come.
But it was a rare opportunity to catch up with all four of them at one go, as we all live in different parts of the country. In fact, two of the cousins live in a totally different time zone. So I just had to go.
And I’m so happy that I did.
It was really great seeing them again. Remembering how we climbed up their humongous guava tree when no adults were looking, playing house with the neighborhood kids atop the water tank, running after ducks and chicken around the compound, playing “step house”, “siato”, hide-and-seek, making candle balls on All Saints’ Day, caroling and “simbang-gabi” on Christmas break, making ice candy… Yes, it WAS awesome seeing them again.
Sharing here some photos of my fun time. And boy, did I have fun! First time to brave a photobooth, and I enjoyed it. Kudos to ZionEyes Enterprises for making my experience really special. Will be recommending their service to other WAHMs, that’s for sure.
And there goes my me time. I don’t really have to be away on an exotic vacation or spend so much money to say that I’m having time to myself. I can be clowning around with my kids at home (or in a photobooth at a cousin’s party, for that matter) and consider it my me time. As WebMD says: Me time is anything that lights you up or fascinates you.
For me, it’s just all about having a fantastic time, period.
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by The Happy WAHM
It’s the last day of 2014, and before I get really busy in the kitchen, I just want to sit here and write a short entry. Call it my last hurrah for 2014. It’s been an awesome year, and I am grateful.
Let’s see…
Both my major goals panned out. I’m sitting comfortably in my office while I write this, and the thrill of having a professionally designed blog has not diminished.
The minor ones also came to fruition, although not all of them were accomplished 100%.
Here’s a rundown:
Finish three online courses – I only got to finish one. Barely. It was like learning a foreign language, and the degree of difficulty is like a climb up Mt. Everest. I set out with a goal of finishing it with distinction (a 90% rating) and I fell flat on my face with a dismal 86%. As a consolation, I just tell myself that it was what I deserved for studying in a moving car for the whole duration of the course. I was taking on too many projects at that time, and the only time I could study has been on the car ride to the grocery.
Re-structure our homeschool – We’ve decided not to enroll this year, and go independent. We’re totally interest-led now, although I have downloaded the K-12 curriculum of DepEd and refer to it from time to time, just to make sure that the kids will be prepared for the PEPT when the time comes. The husband is also more involved now, since he no longer leaves home to work. The freedom of being interest-led has paved the way for the kids to pursue what they really want. Bea finished a Basic Chinese course online, and is now into coding. Jude, at nine, has his eyes set on NASA. So these parents need to hustle.
Buy a piano – Our kids learned to play using a Casio keyboard, and our piano teacher advised us to invest on a real piano, or a digital one with weighted keys. We settled for a digital one. Our house is too small to accommodate even an upright piano. This is a good thing, as not only are the kids getting the required training, but us adults get motivated to learn, too.
Learn something new – I learned how to crochet, yey! And I’m hooked, pun intended. 🙂
Write a coaching module – Finished the structure and all the points, but still need to improve on it. This goal will spill over to 2015. It has become a challenge to finish, because it is no longer just about my niche. It started off with just virtual assistance, but it evolved to a module on home-based business set up in general. Blame Prof. Ed Hess! His Grow to Greatness courses really inspired me to just go for it.
Add income streams – I was able to set up an internet/affiliate marketing site this year, which I hope to launch sometime in January. The site has been professionally-designed, too, so I’m very excited to have it live. I’ve been dreaming of having such a site for years now, since my very first client as a VA has been an internet marketer. I learned so much about the niche that I’ve been wanting to put the knowledge I gained into practice. The real push came when I stumbled into Mindware Toys. I started to set up the site with just KEVA in mind, but just like the coaching module, it evolved into something more.
With the site still on maintenance mode, I was able to get in a few dollars of income, so my motivation to work on it just increased a hundred-fold.
The year has not been all rosy. There were trying times, but we pulled through.
My husband losing his job. Glenda. That very recent scary accident. And being torn between doing mainstream blogging, versus simply focusing on my niche. Husband’s seven-month hiatus made the decision for me. I had to focus on the income-generating activities to support the family, plus the fact that our firstborn will be in college next year. I just can’t afford to lose my footing on what I do best, which is virtual assistance. The writing will be my respite.
The last quarter of 2014 proved to be pivotal. My husband finally debuted as a WAHD, and it was also during this period that I fully embraced collaborative work. Finally came out of my shell, so to speak.
And this is the part that I get cheesy.
Truly grateful for the friendship of The Techie Mom and Martine de Luna, for it has been with them that I have worked with the most. Then came Artique, Manila Workshops, Mrs C’s Sugarcoated Life, Fancy Girl Design Studio, and the latest is with Chasing Dreams.
Looking forward to more projects with these fabulous ladies next year, as working with them has proven to be professionally gratifying, and personally enriching.
Just as I did this year, I’ll hit the ground running this coming 2015.
A re-designed business site, an affiliate marketing site, officially making e-commerce set up as an added service offering, domain and hosting services, a series of webinars with Manila Workshops, virtual assistance workshops with the Make It Blissful and Manila Workshops tandem, home-based business set up coaching, and hopefully, the launch my hubby’s site, too.
A lot in the works, and so I’m claiming my one word for 2015 to be… DISCIPLINE, because at the core of all these lies my true purpose, that of being a MOM, above all else.
Have an awesome New Year!
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by The Happy WAHM
If you fell down yesterday, stand up today. – H. G. Wells
And fall, I did. Literally. With a very loud thud.
As Jude puts it…
I thought the ceiling was going to collapse.
I don’t know how it really sounded from downstairs, as I was busy picking myself up from the upstairs bathroom floor, and screaming at the top of my lungs for my husband.
I lost my balance as I was toweling dry, and I fell hard on my butt, and as I fell must have hit the back of my head on the wall, because I remember feeling an excruciating pain on my head just as I felt the thud of my butt on the floor.
I saw the scene flashing before me in slow motion. I remember thinking “this is not happening,” and thinking “no, I won’t be paralyzed. I won’t let myself to be.” And the moment I landed on the floor, the first thought was “I have to scream now, or they will never know what happened.” And so I did.
As I opened my mouth for that first scream, I was already thinking of getting up. “I have to get up, I have to get up.” My mind was working overtime. I was feeling excruciating pain on the occipital area of my head, and at the same time, pain was also shooting up from what feels to be the base of my spine. And that pain worried me. So I made myself move.
I was able to get up on my own and wrapped myself in a towel, but my world was spinning. I thought for a while that my vision was blurred, but I refused to acknowledge it. I focused on the pain, trying to think of what organ connects to what, and what could be causing the pain on my back. I moved my legs, and in my fuzzy mind thought, “Oh God, thank you. I can move my legs.” My greatest fear was paralysis, and the fact that I was able to get up was comforting enough to take my mind off the nausea.
My husband came just as I opened the shower curtain. He did not hear my first scream, but Jude did. And the boy called him. He heard the second. And the third, just as he opened the bathroom door. I think that earns him the title Flash, because I know I timed my screams on five-second intervals. I was very conscious of keeping my mind busy, so I even thought of counting in seconds.
We were preparing for a lunch date with a family friend when it happened. After lunch, we were supposed to go straight to the Christmas presentation of Greenhills Christian Fellowship, and then drop off my little something for a friend at her house. We went ahead with lunch, but by the time we were due to go to GCF, I was ready to call it a day. My body was aching all over, and the dizziness was stubbornly staying.
Last night, I had nightmares. The scene of my fall kept repeating in my mind, even in my sleep. I pity the husband who stayed up all night monitoring my temperature. They all say I felt hot, but the thermometer told them otherwise. So maybe I’m just one hot WAHM. Period.
Emergency over. I’m now back at my workstation. Grateful, just a little bit more than the other days, that God has been there, as He always is, to protect me from further harm.
More than ever, I want to keep my own version of the gratitude jar project alive. I don’t know how to call it yet. Choose Happiness? Happiness Jar? Maybe you can send in suggestions. 🙂
I’ve distributed some of the jars, while others are still with me, about to be prettified. The way I know how, okay? 🙂 My version of pretty might not be the same as yours, so please bear with me.
Meanwhile, I chose to be happy yesterday while fighting the nausea, and indulged in sweets.
Because you see, happiness is a choice. And you can be happy any time, under any circumstance, even in an emergency. You just need to choose to see the good side of things. The good side of what happened to me? Aside from having a good reason to indulge, I also had a good massage. 🙂
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by The Happy WAHM
And I believe him!
Oh, gosh! I don’t know how I’m going to write this post while I’m doing the happy dance. And grinning from ear-to-ear, too! 🙂
See, this happened just now. Like right now!
I have just received a FREE copy of Jeff Goins‘ e-book, You Are A Writer, (So Start Acting Like One).
Right now, I’m far from acting like a writer. I’m acting like a child who just had her first plushy doll. A Hello Kitty one. Okay, maybe I was more The Little Twin Star type, but who cares?
So anyway, yesterday, I received an email from Jeff. Yeah, we’re close, so he emails me, and I call him Jeff. In my dreams!
Again, anyway, I’m in his mailing list, coz I signed up, okay? And so there’s this email announcing the price-drop for the Kindle version of the book. It was just $0.99, so I excitedly clicked on the link to Amazon, with the intention of buying. Alas, it was priced at $2.99. I know these things happen, because I always encounter these problems in my line of work. So I decided to send a reply to the newsletter to let them know that there’s some bug at work.
Jeff’s assistant, Stephanie, promptly replied that she has gone ahead and fixed the error. So I went back to Amazon, only to see that the price was still $2.99. So I decided to wait it out. Based on experience, propagating a change can take a while.
Tonight, I went to Amazon again, hoping that I could finally get my book. But instead of going down, the price even went up to $4.99. So I decided to email Stephanie again, just to let her know. I was resigned to the idea that I will just have to wait for another price-drop offer.
And then lo and behold! She replied, and again promptly, with an attached PDF and MOBI files of the book! Turns out, the offer was for US customers only, so what I thought was the bug last night was actually not a bug at all, but a location limitation set at Amazon.
So now, I’m happily writing, and tomorrow, I’ll be reading about me being a writer. Ha ha!
Here’s an advance review of the book. It is an effective motivational tool. Merely having a copy now has motivated me to write this real quick blog post, and it has made me more of a fan of Jeff. And I think I have just done something really important about being a writer.
I wrote! I am a writer! 🙂
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