Do you charge what you are worth? Years ago, just out of culinary school I opened my first business. A catering company. I was hungry for any business and to grow my name. I never turned a party or event down. Whatever the budget I would work it out. Why shouldn’t I? I was the “new kid on the block”. 

I am going to admit it right here publicly, without guilt: one of the major benefits of working is getting a break from your darling children.  Oh yes, we working moms have CRAZY amounts of guilt about leaving our kids each day for our jobs, and constantly re-assess if it is worth it, whether that is for a few hours each week or full-time-plus and whether it is working from our home office or traveling to the other side of the world.  But I truly believe it is ok to ENJOY escaping to…I mean going to…work. 

Last week I attended a parenting workshop at my son’s elementary school on peace-based education. The seminar offered kids and parents models for conflict resolution and ideas on how to more mindfully navigate our relationships.

As of yesterday, I have been out of work for 6 months. After the birth of my twin sons, children numbers 4 and 5 for me, I had to quit my career at the end of September 2012. I was a Human Resources and Payroll Administrator for a local car dealership for many years. I was giving my job 110% everyday in the hopes of being promoted to management in the not so distant future. I was getting closer to that goal and things were finally starting to move in the right direction.

Now that I have a five-year-old and an eight-year-old in elementary school, it is more challenging for me to get work done when they are home compared to when they were babies. The biggest difference: they require constant engagement. They talk nonstop, ask questions nonstop... and oddly enough expect a similar level of conversation in return.

By now, you have probably engaged in social media, water cooler or mom’s group talk about Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, and her infamous “no working from home” edict to her employees.  I have watched this debate and media coverage from the sidelines over the last couple of weeks and now want to share my two cents on how I lead.

If you work remotely from home and have an employer with the administrative office in another location, you may find that your main form of communication is email. This can be a dream come true in that you can get a lot accomplished without the pitfalls of lengthy conversations, distractions and small talk. The following tips can help ensure a more effective and productive work from home email experience:

Almost a year ago to the day I found out I was pregnant again. This was great news. We were trying to have one last baby to finish off our perfect family. At my 6 week appointment they told us it was probably twins. We were shocked. My husband sat and stared with the cliche deer in the headlights look while I started gabbering on and on like an idiot and giggling nervously. I then wrapped up the appointment with a good long cry. We had to wait until the 10 week appointment for confirmation. I knew it to be true, though. I'd been pregnant before.

When I became a teenager, my mom realized that she needed to be more involved and accessible for my three sisters and I, so she sold her beauty salon in a town about 20 minutes from our house and opened another right in our home. It gave her the flexibility to be able to be more of a hands-on mom She would schedule her appointments in between our school and extra-curricular activities. And the best part was that she was just a room away if my sisters and I needed her.

I love to dream and dream BIG!

What I have to be careful of is not getting so wrapped up my dream that I end up thinking more about my dream then I do about living in the NOW.  This happens when I am not happy with where I am at.