Today’s the introduction to the blog trip and for those who are following it, an introduction to me and my site. I live in Poway, CA, which is near San Diego. It’s a pretty quiet area, but we like it. We get some hiking done at some nearby fields, which my two kids think is a real treat.

For those who are new here, I’m expecting #3 right now, due February 3, 2009. It means we have to be a bit more careful on hikes since our usual path has some spots where it would be easy to fall, but we get around that by going into the fields a different way.

Poway’s a quiet area, but living near San Diego means there’s plenty to do. We have passes that we haven’t taken nearly enough advantage of this year to go to the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.

Working at home can be pretty hectic, especially as everyone gets used to new schedules. In the past few weeks my husband has started a new job after being laid off in January, my daughter has started 1st grade, and my son’s speech therapy through the school district has started back up. Add in planning for a surprise baby, and getting actual work done is pretty tough some days. But somehow it all comes together most days.

A little time cooking can be a great activity for parents to do with kids. You just keep the kids’ parts age appropriate, and of course make it fun. Although some kids do enjoy helping make dinner on a regular basis.

Cookies are the classic choice. If you don’t have a favorite recipe, one of the beautiful things about the Internet is how many ways you can look for one you’d like to try. The number of variations on the classic chocolate chip cookie alone is pretty amazing.

You can make some treats a bit healthier. My kids love my whole wheat waffles, for example. These freeze well, so you can make them any time of day. Reheat in the microwave and you have a good breakfast. My kids, at least, don’t notice the whole wheat at all.

A complaint I hear very often from working friends with kids is that they can’t afford to have one parent stay at home. They need both incomes in order to meet the car payment, mortgage, food bills, daycare and so forth. And some of them are right. Others just need to rethink things.

Daycare, for example, is expensive. When you’re figuring out if someone can stay at home with the kids, you have to remember that certain costs go away.

Being a stay at home mom also can mean that you eat at home a lot more. It might not mean that, but if you care to cook much at all, you’ll have more time for it when you aren’t working away from home. Even on days that the kids have really busy schedules you can always use the crockpot to get things going early. Trust me, the crockpot is your friend. That goes double if the children are young and clingy.

Especially with gas prices going the way they are, you can cut a lot of money out of the budget simply due to driving less. What you save will depend on how far you’ve been having to go to work, or if you’ve been able to use public transportation.

The clothing budget for the stay at home mom probably also drops. There’s less worry about dressing right for your job, and you will probably wear far fewer dry clean only outfits.

There will also be a difference in your taxes. A lower income does mean lower taxes. This is a hard one to calculate, but it’s worth remembering if things appear to be borderline.

Some saving money skills can take time to master if you haven’t been practicing already. Clipping coupons, for example, can theoretically save you money, but many people spend even more because they aren’t being careful about buying things they don’t need. No matter how good the deal is, if you aren’t going to use it, it’s not a good deal.

Your savings can also be eaten up by the desire to put your kids into more activities. Many of these add up pretty quickly. They also add a lot of running around in the car. There’s a balance between putting the kids into activities they’ll enjoy and what is reasonable on your budget. You have to find the right one for your family.

And don’t forget there’s a huge value to unstructured play for children. Remembering this can keep you from running around to an excessive number of activities.

When in doubt about whether or not you can afford to stay at home, consider testing the situation. Try living on just one income, and saving as much as possible of the second.

You may also consider looking for ways to earn money from home. You don’t want to start this search when you’re desperate for money, as there are too many scams out there, but searching when you have the time to investigate and really think about what you would like to do can open up a lot of possibilities.

The key here is to just not assume that it can’t be done or it’s too expensive. Look at what it will take to be a stay at home mom, then assess your own situation. You may find some alternatives that will work for your family.

No matter what kind of work you do from home, sometimes you’re going to have to figure out how to explain it to someone who just doesn’t get it.

This can be challenging even if you have a work at home job rather than a business. I had quite a time explaining that yes, my work as a medical transcriptionist was real work to my mother-in-law back when I did that. The idea that one could get paid for working at home in something other than daycare or direct sales was hard for her to accept somehow.

She gets it now though, even though I’m in a business that she doesn’t really understand. But I earn decent money, and that goes a long way toward reassuring questioning family members.

Home businesses can be pretty difficult to explain, even when they’re fairly traditional sorts. Go into blogging or affiliate marketing, however, and explanations get more difficult to give. Not because the work itself is so odd, but because many people just can’t wrap their minds around the concept of earning money online. The things they see online just exist, or they assume it takes a bigger business to run them.

One way to explain is to compare what you do to more common jobs. Blogging is, after all, a sort of writing. Affiliate sales can be compared to earning commissions as a salesperson, except you aren’t an employee.

Then there’s the issue of getting people to respect what you do. Some see your flexible schedule as meaning you can do as you please anytime. The fact that you need to get your work done and have a schedule on which you prefer to do it goes right over many people’s heads.

Of course, when you feel like building a little envy, you just have to mention some of the perks. Little things like saving gas mean a lot these days. Flexible hours can bring about the envy of any working parent and many people who don’t have kids. Add in your delight in whatever you do, and you may drive some questioners complete nuts.

Explain how low home business costs can be and you’ll probably have people asking how they can do the same. They’ll probably never do anything with whatever you tell them, but many will ask.

Don’t expect that no one will understand what you do. Some will, and they won’t all be in their own businesses. Having your own home business makes it easier to understand how others could earn a living from home, but it’s not an absolute requirement.

Talking to people about what you do can be a great way of bringing new people to your site. Many people are all too happy to say they know the person who runs a particular business, especially if it’s in an area they’re interested in themselves. Finding the right way to address the topic of what you do can help you to build your business.

This just sounds like a fun idea. I’m joining a bunch of other moms and going on a Blog Trip.

The idea is pretty simple. From September 1-5, the moms will post on their blogs about various topics. An itinerary has been suggested. This will allow everyone to keep to a theme, although if you don’t want to post on a particular day you don’t have to.

Why am I doing this?

Aww, it just sounds fun. A little switch from my usual blogging routine, and a chance to encourage other bloggers to check me out. You never know what will happen when you start meeting a bunch of random strangers… err, potential online friends. Posting on somewhat different topics may also be good for my creative side.

I’m hoping to get a start on writing the posts a bit early on. The nice thing about having the itinerary is that I can start the writing process early, and post when ready. Some days it takes a bit of time to get the creative juices flowing.

Although I think my daughter’s been watching too much Dora. I can just hear Dora’s voice saying over and over “We’re going on a blog trip!” in that basic rhythm they always use on that show. Make it stop!