An au pair is a young man or woman who comes from another country to live with a family and take care of the family’s children. The au pair is given room and board by the hosting family, along with a salary. The salary is generally around $200, depending on the specific duties required, the experience of the au pair, etc. The au pair may also travel with the family for business trips or vacations.

GreatAuPair is a fantastic resource for those moms considering an au pair or nanny. They have a terrific Frequently Asked Question section that gives information about expectations on both the part of the family and the au pair.

Hiring an au pair can be a difficult process because of the legalities and international issues involved. If you decide to go this route, it would be well worth the money to use a service like GreatAuPair to be sure that you are following the proper procedures. GreatAuPair will walk you through the matching process and the then help you find the resources that you need for background checks, visas, and immigration.

Balancing our work and our children is always on our minds. Finding a good child care solution for our families can help make that balance a reality.

On a whim the other day I picked up “Chicken Soup for the Working Mom’s Soul.” It seemed a pertinent read given that I have been a working mother since the day my first daughter was born.

At first I loved the book. Some of the essays were about work at home moms, which totally applied to me. I was literally laughing out loud at some of the things that I was written. Then the book took a turn that confused me a little bit. One of the chapters was about how being a mother is a job. Without getting into that argument, it was odd to appear in the book because the essays were about women who quit their jobs to stay at home with their kids. Maybe they wanted to be sure that within the title “Working Moms” they included those whose job is being a mother? I’m not sure.

Then I got to an essay that really hit home for me. It started like this: “When I tell another mother that I work from home and she says, ’Oh, that must be the ideal situation,’ I know one thing about her, even if we’ve never met before. She does not now, nor has she ever, worked from home.”  I’ve met that woman 50 times, I think, and she has always made the same comment!

The book got back on track for me and I found myself really happy to be reading about moms who I could completely identify with. These were the moms who do the same balancing and juggling that I do on a daily basis. Probably the same moms who are happy to pick up a book that they can read for 5 minutes at a time and enjoy!

You should be able to pick up “Chicken Soup for the Working Mom’s Soul” (by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Patty Aubery) at any bookstore, including Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

If the WAHM has children who are in school most of the day and gets her work done during that time, the summer can be interesting, to say the least. The WAHM now must either shift her work time, find childcare for the kids, or look for camps and other activities to occupy their time. The beauty of being a WAHM is that you can also combine all of the above. Maybe the kids will go to grandma’s for a week, spend a couple of weeks in summer day camps, and have a sitter for a couple of weeks. Or maybe the WAHM can rearrange her work schedule for some of the weeks while using sitters or enrolling the kids in camp the other weeks.

For the WAHM who does not have kids in school or use that school time to get her work done, the summer opens up many fun opportunities. For example, a number of movie theaters do free kids movies during the summer. Set aside a little money for popcorn and you and the kids can enjoy an afternoon out for little cost. Many park and recreation departments also feature extra activities for mom and the kids during the summer. Libraries increase the number of free activities offered during the summer months.

No matter what your schedule as a WAHM is, make sure that you take advantage of all of the resources in your community this summer.

So spend a little time in the garden, enjoy a good book, or play with your kids. You successfully juggle work and home every day of the year. You should relax and be proud of yourself. This day is for you!

Some moms work because they absolutely must in order for their family to financially make it. Either they need two incomes to pay the bills or they are single moms and provide the only income for their family.

Other moms have another sufficient income source for their family but choose to work because the money that they make allows them to provide for extras for their family. The income generated by the WAHM may pay for family vacations, bigger Christmases, or activities for the kids. They are not necessities, but they are luxuries that the family enjoys as a result of the mom working.

A third set of moms work from home because of the mental stimulation or feeling of purpose. It is not necessarily that they need the money. It’s more because they want something to call their own or an outlet that is separate from their families. Their work may be something that they trained for or something that just interests them.

We’ve set up a new poll and are  curious to see how our readers feel. Are you a WAHM out of financial necessity or because of other benefits? Take our poll and let us know.

I don’t believe that a WAHM must own her own business. Several years ago I worked for a large corporation in which hundreds of employees worked remotely from their homes. We were fully employed by the corporation and could work flex time. Those of us with kids worked hard to balance the children and our work, sometimes using childcare and sometimes not using childcare. Another great example is a mom who does customer service via computer or phone from home.

I think in those cases, the moms were just as much WAHM as someone who does home parties or runs a business from home. Even if you are using some childcare, you are still accounting for things like working while the kids are home sick, volunteering for school functions, and juggling school breaks and vacations.

We’re going to stick with our original definition here at the WAHM Study that as long as you are working from your home and generating some amount of income, you are a WAHM. Whether you choose to work for another company or use childcare is inconsequential to the definition.

Some mothers say that they work at home so that they do not have to use any type of childcare (including relatives). It is definitely an advantage to mothers to be able to work from home and not have to pay childcare costs. In addition, some mothers are morally opposed to childcare.

On the other hand, many work at home moms say that working at home is just that–working. They say that it is impossible for them to be able to get their jobs done without using some level of childcare. Childcare used varies from a babysitter a few days a week to a full-time nanny to daycare facilities.

We’re curious at WAHMStudy.com whether you use childcare for your work at home job. Vote in our poll today or leave your comments.

A mom, with children of any age who are dependent on her, who earns some amount of income working at a job in which the primary amount of work time is spent based in the home.

This is definitely a broad statement. It does not stipulate the number of hours the mom has to work or how much she has to make. It also doesn’t require that the mom own her own business (which some other people do require in the definition).

The types of “jobs” that fit into the definition are extremely varied. Examples include moms who telecommute for corporations, moms who run home party businesses, and moms who run whole companies out of their homes. The definition of “WAHM” is only limited by the mom’s imagination.

In the coming months, we will endeavor to flesh out more how others define WAHM.