Those first three years of a child’s life are so important in their development and many moms who have the financial ability to stay at home with them are overjoyed at the prospect. The early formative years set the stage for the rest of their lives. What a joy it is to stay at home, teaching them to walk, talk and bond with mom in that special way nature intended. However, once they turn three or four, many moms start to think about the possibilities of hiring a babysitter or placing them in preschool in order to rejoin the working world.
When your kids reach that age and you become comfortable with other people supervising them, you’re probably going to face that “What do I do now?” moment. You’re literally itching to get back out there and by this point, there may be a financial need to do so. Here are four career and hobby options you may want to consider if you’re trying to spice things up after a long stint of being mommy daycare.
Go to School to Become a Surgical Technician
Unlike most degree programs nowadays, surgical tech courses cannot be completed online, so this is a career path that’ll practically force you out of the house and onto campus. However, only some schools are CAAHEP-accredited, so it’s best to use specialized comparison directories like bestsurgicaltechschools.com to compare ideal surgical tech schools in your region.
Become a Travel Nurse
You might think that becoming a travel nurse as a mom would be absurdly difficult, but there are moms who do it and enjoy their careers very much. In fact, it can be a great way for you to show your kids lots of different places in a short period of time. The cost of childcare is a factor, as it is with any other job, but when you consider the fact that it’ll be easy to find a good babysitter for $12/hour, and many travel nurses make $30-$40/hour or more with annual salaries of $70-$100k, this is a smart move as you’d still be making a good income even after childcare costs. It can be a lot easier to find nursing jobs like these through companies Day Webster who help fill these positions. Of course, if you can find a close friend or family member to work with you and watch the kids for less or even free, that would be an optimal scenario. Also, many hospitals around the country do have childcare facilities on-site!
Pursue Your Passion and/or Become an Entrepreneur
If there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do like become an artist, singer, dog groomer, athlete, – you-name-it – now would be the perfect time to rekindle an old passion with some of your new free time. Likewise, putting your energy towards starting a business could wind up being the most lucrative route in the long-term if you do your research and stick with it.
Getting Out There to Build a Better Future
While doing any of the above will certainly consume some of your schedules that would’ve otherwise been spent sitting at home with your kid(s), in actuality, you’ll be doing them more of a disservice by not chasing after a better career, income, and lifestyle. Even if you’re able to launch a business from home using suggestion #3 above, you’re still going to have to be committed to your line of work during set hours. Still, it’s good to keep in mind that the hours you spend away are going to enrich your entire family free time due to the benefits you’ll reap.
