Job flexibility need
Seasons. Seasons of career, seasons of life. I didn't expect the seasons of my life to conflict with the seasons of my career. What a dilemma. Suddenly I found myself frantically searching for a way to make my career more flexible. Unfortunately, there are no clear-cut ways for a first grade teacher to do that, but let me share with you some of what I discovered.
First, get a handle on your specific situation and goals. Identify the specific times you can be available to work and the hours you need to be at home. In my case I needed to be home during the daytime hours to tend young children. That freed up my evening hours and weekends for working, not ideal times for teaching first grade students. But I persevered.
Work at home
One solution I came up with after talking with people was to work at home. Work-at-home jobs do exist and I tried several of them. Some of the work-at-home jobs require that you set hours and are available from home during those set times. If your need is to tend aging parents or if you are starting a business endeavor of your own, that might be a very viable option for you. Since I was tending young children, however, it didn't fit my needs. So on I persevered.
Jobs with flexible hours
You can find jobs with flexible hours in almost any field as long as you, too, are flexible. Turns out that teaching is quite flexible and you don't need a teaching credential or college degree to do it. Consider teaching at your local adult school, ROP, community college, art school, craft store, or children's club. Teach your hobby or your interest and have a great time doing it! Each of those organizations, as well as lots of others, needs teachers at odd hours.
Any business that is open at the times you are available needs staffing. Peruse the telephone book for business types. Consider that they all need people on-site performing a variety of business duties. If you work in an office, consider working as a hospital intake person. Large hotels never close. Retirement homes or assisted living communities are staffed at all hours and need people in all fields, from tennis lessons to nursing.
You are not alone
Look around you. Become aware of just how many other people are in your situation. Talk with them. Support groups are available on the Internet and in person. Talk with people and find out how they have handled their stay-at-home dilemma. Many resources and chat sites are available on the Internet. Some resources are geared at cutting expenses to enable you to spend more time at home ( www.affordtostayhome.com ). Some resources help you find employment either at home or on-site ( www.homeworkers.org ). Some offer coaching on an individual level to steer you through rough waters ( www.homemomcoach.com ). These are only a sampling of the many sites available for you. Some sites are free and some are fee-based.
Again, start by defining your goals. If your primary goal is to be available for your own family or business during given hours, it may require you to be flexible. You may need to find work outside of your current comfort zone. At least explore all of your options. Resist the urge to dismiss them immediately. You will broaden your abilities, meet new people, and ultimately meet your stay-at-home goal.
