How Do Moms Get Back Into The Workforce?

As a full time working mother about to go on maternity leave, many coworkers have been asking if I plan on returning to work. I would love to come back part-time, but that’s just not in the cards for our family at the moment. Like many families – most, I would even venture to say – we need every cent my paycheck brings in.

This is a dilemma that a lot of women face with each pregnancy. Sometimes, as in my case, it’s a pretty cut-and-dry decision based on bank accounts. Other times, it’s more of a gray area. Do you need the income? Can you get by without it? Do you want to give up your professional career entirely?

After my first child was born, I was able to come back after maternity leave part-time. I went in to the office two days a week, which was wonderful. I appreciated having the opportunity to put on work attire, be around other adults with similar professional goals and just get out of the house on my own for a while. Of course, two days of this was enough! Being able to spend the rest of the week with my family was the best part of the new arrangement.

Are you considering what your options are? If you’re maternity leave is about to end, do you go back part-time, full-time, at all?

If you do go back to work, will it be in the same field, or are you ready for a change, like C.S. from L.A., who asks on Mamapedia.com, “I am looking for ideas for a career transition. I have been working in the Real Estate Field for the last decade and would like to make a change due to the bad market and economy,”?

And if you’re a SAHM like A.R. from Chicago, how do you make yourself an attractive candidate despite a gap in your resume? A.R. writes on Mamapedia.com, “Hi, I am in need of Career advice. I have been a stay-at-home-mom for 5 years and I feel that I need to get up to date with my career. I don't know if I need to go back to school or just try to get a job with a 5 year gap in my resume.”

There are numerous resources are out there to help women who want to return to the workforce. Check out Ruth Mantell’s WSJ article, “You Can Land a Job – Even Now.”

Allison O’Kelly, CEO of MomCorps.com, offers SAHM tips on getting back into the workforce in this video.

And the website Comeback Moms is full of resources including Comeback Moms forums covering getting back into the workforce, working from home, help with resumes and working from home.

If you know of any additional resources out there, or have a story to share of your own transition, please leave your comments below. And good luck to those still in the process!

Why I Don't Like Parenting Other People's Kids

Now that I've gotten three-plus years of parenting under my belt, I've come to the realization that I am not a big fan of strangers' kids. And I am even less a fan of parenting those children when their own parents are too lazy to do so.

Case in point: My mother-in-law, daughter and I were at the playground the other day, having a lovely time. Two little boys, brothers I assumed, were there as well. Where was their parent? Out in the parking lot talking on her cell phone! Not a huge deal, I admit, as the older brother seemed to be looking after the younger. It only really started to bother me when the younger brother - probably not much older than my own child - started to need help on the swing, and his older brother was nowhere to be found.

My mother-in-law, God bless her, helped him out while I gave his mom pointed stares. "Get off the phone! Come play with your kid!" I wanted to shout at her. But of course she wouldn't have been able to hear me in the midst of what was obviously a VERY important phone call. This continued on for a bit as the little guy needed assistance with other things. His mom just kept talking, even though she looked right at us as we helped her son.

I understand the need to sit down every once in awhile, take a break from running after your kids, but I just don't understand parents that don't engage at all with their kids in situations like this. Why take your kids somewhere so that you can ignore them?

What do you think? Let me know!

Help! I'm Addicted to Social Media!

I realize the irony of writing about Internet addiction on the Web, and then disseminating that information via Web-based social media sites such as Twitter and MamaSourcce.com, as well as personal e-mail. But, that doesn’t mean I’m addicted!

I’ve come across quite a few articles dealing with the subject in the last week or two, which makes me think, could this really be a problem for some women? Apparently so.

One article I found recently on CNN.com dealing with social media addiction – the inability to disconnect from sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. — even goes so far as to say that “[r]apid-fire TV news bulletins or getting updates via social-networking tools such as Twitter could numb our sense of morality and make us indifferent to human suffering, scientists say.” Yikes.

While the above statement might seem a tad harsh, I can see how too much time spent following Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore on Twitter might make us want to stay connected a bit longer than is healthy. And I can certainly see how working moms might find it hard to switch “off” once they get home from work, especially if they use social media tools at the office.

Elizabeth Cohen, in "Five Clues That You Are Addicted To Facebook," presents the case of Cynthia Newton (not her real name), a mom that works from home, and who uses Facebook for both professional and personal reasons.

"I'm an addict. I just get lost in Facebook," Newton said. "My daughter gets so PO'd at me, and really it is kind of pathetic. It's not something I'm particularly proud of. I just get so sucked in."

Newton says she spends about 20 hours a week on the social networking site, half the time for work -- she runs an online business -- and half just for fun. She's tried to cut down on her Facebook use but failed.

"I can go a whole day without Facebook," she said. "But I've never made it through an entire weekend. I've thought about going cold turkey, but that would make me so uncomfortable. I know I couldn't do it."

Funny, I was just considering starting a Facebook page – for strictly professional reasons of course. I figure as long as I can make time for dinners, laundry, cleaning, bath time, playing with the kids, etc., I should feel entitled to a few minutes on my favorite sites. Right? Tweet me at www.twitter.com/SmyrnaGirl and let me know what you think!