Jobs that are Ideal for Stay-at-Home Mums

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{Collaborative Post}

There are many jobs that stay-at-home mums can do, but sometimes it is easy to forget that many of the skills we have can be useful to other people. We’ve been so wrapped up in caring for our children for many years that we’ve forgotten we are capable of much more.  It can be great for stay-at-home mums to be able to run a business that fits in with caring for the family, and there are many opportunities for us to do this. Here are a few ideas -

Seamstress

Being good with a needle and thread is a skill that many women envy. If you are good at making or altering clothes there will always be a demand for your services. You can do the jobs while the children are at school or in bed and the only thing you may have to watch is that you do not take on more work than you can cope with alongside your family duties. It only takes a few friends to pass the word around, and you will wonder where all the sewing suddenly appears from.

Pilates Instructor

Pilates is more popular than it has ever been and the number of people who want to attend classes is increasing all the time. More people wanting to take part means more instructors are needed and with classes held while the kids are in school, this could be a great way to earn some extra cash.

If you want to become a Pilates instructor you will need to get a level 2 fitness qualification. This may seem like a barrier initially, but it is worth the time and money investment as you can then work at the local gym or set up private classes of your own.

What to Do When You're a Stay-at-Home Mum Who Wants to Go Back to Work

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When you’ve been a stay-at-home mum for a while it can be too easy to think that any career prospects you ever had have gone down the drain. Especially if you’ve been working exclusively to take care of your kids for a long time, but it’s simply not true. Whether you’ve been staying at home for twelve months or twelve years, you can get back to work and create a life that is fulfilling in terms of both work and family life.

If you’ve decided it’s time to get back into the world of work, here’s what you need to do:

Do a Self-Assesment

There is absolutely no point going back to work just for the sake of it. Don’t let anyone pressure you with their expectations. Unless you actually want to do the job or unless you really need the money, you would be better off staying at home with the kids if that is what makes you happy. So, first of all, sit down and think about what you really want to do. Do you want to go back to your old job or a similar one? Do you want to try something totally new? Do you want to do an online masters in school counseling or become a teaching assistant so you can work in school hours and term-time? Really try to pin-point your desires and then you can work on achieving those goals.

Try Things Out

It may not always be possible, but if you can try out various new careers before you make a commitment, perhaps by volunteering at a local school or doing admin for a charity to see how you go, you’ll get a greater sense of what you do or do not like and find out exactly how capable you are of doing things. It will also be an easier way for you to ease yourself back into the world of work. Over the last five years I’ve undertaken around six different volunteering roles and they have all been good for my development and confidence in different ways.

Listening to God and Knowing My Calling will Come

I've been enjoying a spot of colouring today as I prayed and pondered on the season I'm in right now. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Gods definitely been asking me to be patient and wait on him. I listened to an excellent podcast from @godcenteredmom with @sarahagertywrites yesterday that really resonated with me. I don't have to seek out my purpose just to feel useful. ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻 He's getting me ready! Who knows what for but I'm excited to find out...

A post shared by Michelle Pannell (@michelletwinmum) on Oct 6, 2017 at 11:27am PDT

You know sometimes there is something brewing inside you and you're not even really sure what it is? Well God's been speaking to me and I've been trying really hard to listen and to understand what He has been saying. In fact I've been trying to write this blog post for days but it just hasn't flowed and I think that is because I've been absorbing and allowing His message and words to fall deep within me.

I've always known that God is more interested in my character than my comfort. He never created me to live a blessed life and to have things my way. I'm not here to get what I want out of life, I am here to serve His purpose and to be a disciple of Jesus, showing others the way to a better life by knowing Him. Of course this isn't always easy though as by my very flawed nature as a human I am selfish and think of me first. I want what I want.

Recently I've been seeking a job, something to give me satisfaction and where I can feel useful but the only interview that I went to didn't work out and I have to say I was surprised but a few weeks down the line and I'm not at all, I now see it is for the best. I was trying to fill a round hole with a square peg. I don't just need any old job, I need whatever it is that God has planned for me and it may well not fall into my timing but when His timing comes it will be so good, of that I'm sure.

I'm learning to Ignore the inner voices, the ones in my head that say I should be working, I should be busy, I shouldn't be enjoying my life as much as I am and I'm tuning in to God's voice. The one that says spend time with me Michelle, slow down, enjoy life, smell the roses and take care of yourself. I keep hearing the word abide, and abide means to accept or to act in accordance with, so when I look at the verse below I remember I have to be fully immersed in my relationship with God to be able to produce fruit.

"Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." John 15:4

Without Me...

• The kids wouldn't get up, ready and out on time each morning for school
• They'd have to walk the 5 miles to school along the main road with no paths
• No homework would get done
• There would to no holidays organised or enjoyed
• Planned family day trips would be sparse
• Christmas and birthdays would pass by unnoticed
• No-one would receive a thank you, how are you or greeting card
• Family members would never get visited
• The bills wouldn't get paid
• All the insurances would lapse
• The mail, household paperwork and forms from school would create an impressive stack
• The car would cease to a halt or cause an accident through lack of maintenance
• The family wouldn't have home-cooked meals all together at the table
• In fact, there might not be any food in the house, as the order might get forgotten
• School lunch bookings and payments would be forgotten
• The house would be in disarray, things wouldn't get tided away until weeks later and the dust would build
• Everyone would have to dress from the laundry pile
• The kids would look quite humorous in clothes and shoes a couple of sizes too small, as nothing new has been bought
• The items to go to the charity shop or dump would build up and up
• All the regular dentist, doctors and eye checks would be forgotten
• Everyone would look like a shaggy dog without any haircuts
• Various charities would be one volunteer down  
• My blogs would fester, unloved

Mums and Their Work - Is Your Family Flourishing?

We are all aware of the age old debate about mums and should they be working? Out the home, in the home? Or not at all?

But how crazy would it be if we expected a women not to work just because she has birthed a child? Work isn't only something you are paid for, work is everything you put effort into and therefore as responsible adults we all have to work. Looking after your child is work, cleaning your house is work and being paid to man a shop or helping your elderly aunt are both work too.

Oxford English Dictionary definition -"Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a result."

Each one of us is unique and this is just the way God planned it. We don't need to be jealous of the next woman because she can plan an Instagram perfect party and execute it with panache for twenty 5 year old's. Changes are it is part of her gifting - organisation, an eye for beauty and indulging her child are all things that build her up and she enjoys. I'm willing to bet that she isn't doing it to show you how wonderful she is. In fact I'm willing to bet she hasn't even thought about you!

Harsh, but true. We need to remember that we are the centre of our own tiny little world but we need to get outside ourselves and stop making everything about us. Let's think the best of our sisters, of all those other mums, who like us are probably just trying their best and muddling through however they can. When we build another woman up and support her she grows and that's really important. Just look at nature, when you grow green beans and you offer them a bamboo cane, they cleverly wind their tendrils around the cane for growth support and keep on flourishing. 

In the same way God extends His grace to us and that is something none of us deserve but it acts as a support framework to allow us to feel forgiven and able to grow. We all need to follow Gods example and extend grace to everyone we meet. Especially every Mum as the likeliness is that she already believes she isn't good enough.

Why do more Daddies go to work than Mummies?

This was the question my 10 year old JJ asked me the other day.

"I'm not sure babe" was my response. "I suppose it is because the mummies are the ones who physically have the baby and then it just happens that they stay home for a while, often they are breastfeeding. Also in our country they get paid to take leave and stay home whereas the daddy can only have paid leave 20 weeks after the baby has been born and even then it is only if the mummy goes back to work, the government are not making easy for the dads to stay at home".

This wasn't enough for him though and he carried on "but things are changing aren't they mummy? When you were a little girl no dads ever dropped their kids off to school did they and some do now? It is OK for daddies to stay at home and for mums to go to work instead now isn't it?".

This of course opened up a great conversation about how it was more than OK for women to be working nowadays and to be doing all the things that men do and vice versa. Thank goodness things are progressing here in the UK and whilst our legislation in regard to maternity and paternity pay is slow to get to the standard it needs to be it is at least moving in the right direction.

Sadly the same can not be said for every country the world over and there are still many countries were the sexes are treated completely differently. One thing that does seem to stand out across the world sadly is that poverty is affecting women and girls disproportionately. Of course poverty in this country is not quite the same as poverty in third world nations but never the less there are far too many women going without food so they can offer the very little they have to their children.

Photo Credit - Karen Walrond/ONE

The NGO (non-governmental organisation) that I travelled to Ethiopia with in October 2012 have launched a fabulous new resource for anyone who has an interest in seeing an end to extreme poverty and particularly for those who have an interest in girls and women's affairs. Click on the link to go and visit the ONE Girls & Women initiative. Each month there is a guest curator who will tell you a little of their story and also introduce some great reads, videos, play lists or photos that have spoken to them. It is a great place to stay in touch with what is happening  in the fight against extreme poverty. ONE work with all the big charities and aid agencies so if you already have a favourite charity that you support you do not need to feel compromised by supporting the campaigning and advocacy work that ONE do too. Some of my favourite web pages of ONE are the Living Proof ones where you can read about the success stories and how progress is being made and change is happening in the fight against extreme poverty.

As per always with ONE, they will never ask for money from you, what they want is your voice. We know that when we collectively come together people in positions of power start to listen and change can happen, so why don't you sign up and add your voice. This month they are asking people to add their name to a petition to show that we believe those living in Sub-Saharan Africa also have a right to electricity. Currently 7 out of 10 people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not and they will give birth by candlelight or eat food which could not be refrigerated adequately. Read more about why it is important that people can be lifted out of energy poverty here.

You might not have heard of the ONE Campaign before if you live in the UK, as sadly the profile here is fairly low but don't let that put you off. Take a look, find out who ONE are and realise they are credible and have nearly 6 million members across the world. Do you want to sign up too? Go on, it is easy and will mean that the latest information arrives direct to your inbox.

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I've lost my way.....

Life has changed and I don't not what to say,
But I'll tell you how it feels... like I've lost my way...

I used to be so sure, I knew where I was at,
But then life changed direction and now I just feel fat.

I had goals and dreams and a direction I was heading,
now what I do is mop-up spills, cook dinner and change the bedding.

Don't get me wrong this is what I wanted,
to move here, to stop the chaos and to be confronted....
with the reality of not having a career anymore.

The truth is I feel a bit useless, I hop from one thing to the next,
wondering where to find satisfaction and seeking rest....
from the demon that says 'you offer nothing right now Mich'.

There are different seasons and times when we should do jobs,
I know this, I tell people this, but for me I just feel at odds.

Life is good and I am blessed,
and I truly wish that I could sort out my head...
to believe that I am good enough to stay home.

But today I'm focusing on the failed fancy dress,
the clubs that my kids don't attend and my life, which feels a mess.

I just need to find the new way,
the rhythm to my new kind of day.

Seek to believe that I have worth in who I am,
and not constantly strive to achieve all I can.

For constantly 'doing' is tiring and it's not want God wants,
I need to wait on Him for revelation, that must be my response.

The truth is I'm being over dramatic,
this isn't serious. Life is fantastic!


After a day of trying to make a fancy dress outfit and doing a pretty terrible job and then letting someone down I feel totally crap today but I do realise that much of this is my hormones. Being a woman stinks sometimes and getting my feelings out really helps me to move on and have a better day. So Mum if you are reading, stay chilled I'm fine. I've just got too many small things on the go at the moment and I need to see where I should be focusing my attentions.

Linking up with Vic for Prose4T, click on the badge to find more -

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I don't know how I did it....

Loving time to spend with these nutters!

Most days I find this going through my head, I am amazed really. How on earth did I use to work, volunteer and look after my family and home? Now I’m not working outside the home it completely baffles me, I can see why I used to look tired and withered most of the time.

Here I am now with loads of time on my hands and still I don’t sit around and twiddle my thumbs, in fact I’d like a few more hours in a day. I suppose it is a change of priorities and activities rather than having stopped. Things before which had to be pushed to the side can now be undertaken.

It gives me an immense amount of satisfaction now to be able to do reading, times tables, spelling and homework with the kids every day. Before I struggled to do it twice a week. I tried to push the guilt away, who did it help if I felt bad that I was not doing enough educational things with the kids but realistically in the short time we have been here Miss E has made really great progress with her reading, something she struggles so much with. When I see that progress I know it is totally right than I am not working right now.

The smallest things gives me joy at the moment, like the fact I’m able to use up those plums that have not ripened. Before they would have ended up in the bin as there was no time for anything else but now I can use Maggy’s recipe and enjoy plum cake with custard. We can have roast dinners on week days, I can make curry from scratch and hot puddings come from the oven not a shop-bought container. Never has so much flour, eggs, butter and sugar been used in my house!

I have an immense respect for working parents, having done it for 10 years myself I know it is hard work and right now I’m blessed to be trying something different out. I felt the benefit of not working this week when late Sunday afternoon Miss M broke her elbow. As I spoke to dh on the phone as we waited in our local A&E all I could say was thank God I can just stay home with her and not worry. If we had been back in Hertfordshire one or the other of us would have felt compromised trying to sort out work around caring for our babe.

I understand I’m really blessed to have been able to make this decision, not everyone can. I have a husband who understands this is right at present and we have agreed that we will make financial sacrifices to be able to do this - plans for future abroad holidays and large purchases are gone but for us we really are feeling a difference in our quality of life.

For sure I’d urge anyone to seriously consider giving up work and spending some time at home to really be with your kids and to be able to feel as if you are on top of things. Turn back the clock and never would I or anyone who knew me say that I’d ever suit being a stay at home mum but we’d all have been wrong. For now it feels good and that’s enough for me.

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!