One of the most important things for me in choosing to have
a baby is the financial aspect of it. I find myself in a contradictory position
– if I go back to work full-time as a teacher, I will need childcare. And, I
can’t afford childcare in New York on a teacher’s salary. On the other hand, if
I stay home, I won’t need childcare, but I also won’t have enough money coming
in to cover expenses for long. I’ll run through what’s left from Mom and Dad
pretty quickly.
Of course, the ideal solution to that is that I get the
dream book deal. But, that’s not something I can rely on happening. So what I
have been trying to do is get work that I can do at home. I’ve looked at online
teaching positions, but nothing has come through. I’ve also looked at editing
and proofreading work. One company that advertised for people had me do their
test, which I did well on, but then said they had no openings. Frustrating. I
need to follow up with them soon and see if anything changes. But, in the meantime,
I did apply for work as a writer with a big online company that generates
content for a variety of websites. I got approved to write for the education
section, and I’ll start that when I get back from my South America trip. It’s
not glamorous, and it’s not going to make me rich, but it will be a good way to
start supplementing my income, and it’s a resume builder. Maybe it will lead to
other things.
There is another reason why I am trying to find work I can
do from home. The truth is, I really want to stay home with my potential child.
I know that’s not for everyone, and every mom has to make the decision about
what’s right for her. But I know I want to be there for it all. I’ve got
nothing against nannies by any means, but I want to raise my child myself (we’ll
put aside for the moment the fact that I know absolutely nothing about raising
a child). Mom was there for us every step of the way, and I want to do the same
for my child.
Of course, a lot of this is getting way ahead of things. I
haven’t even officially begun the process of trying to have a baby. But I need
to lay the groundwork now. Really, I’ve been trying to lay the groundwork since
I got back from England a couple of years ago, but nothing has clicked until
now. If over the next few months/year, I can start to build a revenue stream
through online work, I should be in decent shape if and when I am lucky enough
to have a baby. If the financial side of things does not shape up? Well, horror
of horrors, I could always sell my apartment and move out of the City! We’ll
hope it doesn’t come to that. J
