The New Homemaker
Lynn Siprelle is mother of 3 year old Josie, and wife to John. Baby Louisa is expected in May! Siprelle runs a website called The New Homemaker, reflecting the changes in life from when our parents grew up.
"My mom didn't work outside the home until I was 14 or so (and I remember wishing she hadn't taken the job deep down), so I had the role model of a stay-at-home mom. But I was graduated from high school in 1979 in the middle of feminism, so I came up thinking that I would probably have to work outside the home because that seemed to be where everything was headed; no man would want a stay-at-home wife "doing nothing," and I wouldn't be happy "doing nothing" either. "
Why this topic?
"I was looking around for a website that would support my increasing belief that someone needs to be home with the kids--someone needs to be "making home." I was also struggling to get a handle on how to run a home--kitchen management, keeping the house orderly, taking care of Josie--the kinds of topics women's magazines used to consider their bread and butter, but which now have given way to horoscopes, diets (followed by fudge recipes) and celebrity interviews."
"I needed a place to hang out that didn't require membership in "the chosen," had a holistic approach to homemaking, and didn't assume that because I was choosing to be home I was either brainless or spineless. Couldn't find it. So I made it. As far as I know, I'm still the only site in my niche--a regularly updated, secular site for homemakers who think. It started in March, 1999, with just me. It's still just me. It's a great group of women, very supportive of one another."
How her family helps out
"Josie gets me to stop, which is actually the most valuable contribution of all. I am a born workaholic, unfortunately."
Making it all work for her
"I've done quite a bit of retooling of the site to allow it to "coast" more than I have let it in the past--more user contributions, less contributions from me. Financial realities of web publishing (i.e., there's no money in it) also brought me to that point as well. But I think the users like it; my page views and visits are up 50% this month from the month before, the highest ever."
Lynn, John, Josie and Louisa live in Oregon. Visit them at: The New Homemaker
Quintessential Mommy
"I think I've always known that I wanted to stay home with my kids. I always imagined myself with lots of kids and taking them to school, sport events, going camping, traveling with them, doing arts and crafts, etc. I also knew that no matter what, I'd be doing some sort of work from my home. We've owned our our business for almost 8 years," says Pam Dvorak, work-at-home mommy and owner of Quintessential Beads, a beaded jewelry shop online.
Dvorak currently works from home making bead jewelry and lampwork, including nursing, pregnancy and fertility jewelry.
"I didn't expect to ever do something like Quintessential Beads though. That's something that I just sort of fell into and I'm loving it."
The Beginning
"I had a friend who taught me how to make lampwork beads and gave me a few other tips on making jewelry. Then I decided to go ahead and try and sell it on the Internet. At first, I just wanted to do it as a side thing, but as time passed, I became more and more involved. It's my own business and I do it at my own pace. My kids can be with me and if they make noise when a customer calls, then it's not a problem. I've created my own environment and that includes having my kids at my side."
The Babies and the Job
"My pregnancy was very difficult. I was high risk from day 1 and was admitted into the hospital on full time bedrest at 27 weeks gestation. The hardest part for me was that I was in the Czech Republic and away from my family and close friends. I didn't have the kind of support network that I would have had if I was living in the United States. Luckily, I was able to find people on the Internet, that were able to help me through that difficult time."
On her site it playfully warns callers that they may hear her twins in the background, but when asked if they are of assistance yet she replies, "They know not to play with "Mommy's Beads" unless I specifically say they can. I'm sure as they get older, they'll be making jewelry with me. "
Q-Mommy on the Downside
"The extreme times are when I become overloaded and bite off more than I can chew. When the phones are ringing, the kids are screaming, and the dog is chewing up the house, all at the same time, I can kind of lose it. That's when I know to sit back and let the machine get the call and just take deep breaths. My first priority is my children. Everything else needs to fall in line after that."
Pam, Pavel, Jacob and Jeremy (3 years old) live in California.
