Wanna work at home?

We've all probably had our e-mail inboxes cluttered with get-rich-quick work-at-home schemes, most of them promising big money for doing things that logically could not be counted on to bring much more than aggravation. So I didn't expect much when I noticed an article on the Baby Zone site offering 10 Great Ideas for Moms Who Want to Work at Home. But the ideas here are pretty down-to-earth and legitimate, and there are some I'd never have thought of. I'm lucky to have a full-time job that allows me to work at home whenever I need to, and to leave the office at the same time my kids leave school. But if I were searching for more home-bound employment, there's a couple of ideas here I'd definitely look into.

For example, in addition to the usual suspects like writing and sales, the article mentions online teaching -- and although I know there are lots of online classes and universities, it never occurred to me that they might be casting out into the greater population looking for teachers. If the idea of teaching without ever actually having to deal with your students in person appeals to you, a site called Universal Class is looking for instructors, and so is Barnes & Noble University.

Another possibility in the Baby Zone article is case manager for early intervention. Are the folks running EI in your area really doing it at home in their PJs with toddlers running around? Sometimes it sure seems that way -- but now that I think about it, having a mom who's been there (or who's there right now) managing these cases might not be such a bad idea. According to the article, "case managers are required to have a college degree or to have a child with special needs." Goodness knows all that experience battling bureaucracy ought to be worth something.