WAHM What is it?

I am a WAHM (work at home mom). I am not sure when that really happened. I was a SAHM (stay at home mom) for years. I am blessed to have 4 awesome children from 19 months to 19 years old. I homeschool the middle two.

It started when I took a class and made a soft sculpture doll for my daughter and my hair dresser wanted one for her niece. That began the process of making and selling 50 dolls and their clothes in the era when Cabbage Patch dolls could not be found in the stores.

Through the years I have done a variety of other things at home: bookkeeping, child care, making Christmas Wreaths and 5 years as a freelance florist doing weddings and craft shows from my home.

In 1994 I started homeschooling my children. Every year more families came to me asking me to tell them how to get started and how to find curriculum. I started a notebook that turned into a resource manual. Someone I met online offered to help me make a web page for my book. That began by journey into learning html and web design.

In 2000 we adopted our 4th child. I started an online registry to help others who wanted to adopt, I also began making web pages for these same families. The adoption registry continues to be active. About that time I moved both the homeschool and adoption resources to http://www.preciouskids.org This site is very active with lots of weekly hits. I added a free e-course on How To Adopt earlier this year.

In 2001 I began producing ID cards for kids. I had worked on designing a homeschool ID cards years before but could not get the software to do the template correctly. My son started doing graphic designs and showed me how to solve this. I love color and design so he and I created many colorful options for the cards. I opened http://www.MyPreciousKid.com

I wanted medical information on my daughters car seat in case of an accident so created a card that Velcro’s onto her car seat and can be easily changed or updated. I wanted the information on her back pack diaper back so made one that attaches to it. She has food allergies so wanted her play group leader to have a wallet ID cards with that information and mine and my husbands cell phone numbers.

I am providing a fundraising option for day care centers, preschools and other children’s organizations. Their families get the ID for their kids and the organization makes a commission. I just started providing the ID cards as a gift certificate wholesale to baby gift basket companies. In fact we are being featured in Gift Basket Entrepreneur Magazine.

Being a work at home mom has challenges and blessings. The biggest challenge is not having uninterrupted time to work and complete tasks. The biggest blessing is I can stop in the middle of the day and read a book or snuggle with my daughter.

In the process of working at home I have learned how to make web pages, read html, write articles, do press releases, market my product, and finding the right niche for my product. I have also made numerous friends online with other WAHM’s. Now that my kids are growing up and leaving I look back with no regrets that I chose to be home with them each and every day!

In 2003 I created a new web site to help others who want a successful home business. http://www.123HomeBusinessGuide.com