Project WAHM Stage Two

It is now officially a life goal to be fully set up to be a Work-At-Home Mum or WAHM--thank you, Dainty Mom, for the term!--by the time my baby is a year old. That is my estimated time frame anyway since I've only just started working at picking out things I know I can do whilst (wiggle your toes if you also love using this rather archaic word!) managing the household and taking care of my family.

The first step I took was to apply for a freelance writing job. Wish me luck as I'm going through the final stages of application at the moment but I'm thinking positively and I believe I will pass. *crosses fingers*

Step two I took last Monday: I signed up to be a dealer for Human Nature.

Since I'll likely be blogging about the brand and several products in the succeeding weeks, I shan't talk too much about the brand itself but more about the decision that led to the signing up.

This is not my first foray into dealership but this is the first dealership that I entered without having to be convinced by someone else that it's an excellent idea to go into the business. I am emphasizing this because this is the same business model that I have previously failed at, both by myself and with my husband (then my fiancé) by my side.

I mentioned this morning that part of the reason I chose to give this type of business model another shot is the Human Nature tag line: pro-Philippines, pro-poor, and pro-environment. I also mentioned that it has received the PETA Cruelty-Free Bunny. What I haven't mentioned yet is the fact that I believe it's also pro-mommies-to-be particularly for those like me who wish prefer to attempt to turn to as natural or close to natural products as I can manage.

The attempt to go for this type of product began all the way when I was in grade school when  The Body Shop was but a newly-imported brand and had only one store about 45 minutes to an hour away from our house. On and off since then, my mother and I had used a mixture of natural or organic products both from The Body Shop and smaller artisan sources though there was never really any serious attempt to stick with it since it was a huge hassle to have to go all the way out to The Body Shop for supplies, and artisan sources were not always reliably stocked--and we all know that stock piling these things in your own home eventually damages the goods.

It was easy to exchange grocery convenience for environmental and health considerations given that, in general, grocery store finds offer just as good use as any. So easy, in fact, that I completely forgot about that seed of a goal I had when I was nine or ten.

And then we fast-forward to now when I'm about to become a mom.

I mentioned I made the conscious switch to forgo my usual products and purchased Human Nature items because of all those "(x) can be harmful to your unborn baby" articles and I really didn't want to have to go through my entire stash just to check. (No, I didn't waste my products--I passed them on to others who could use them.)

I took a long time to decide whether or not I wanted to jump back into the fray. Freelance writing was my primary option for stay-at-home work, of course, since I'd done it before, just that it fell into neglect after several offline life crises. But I needed something else to do with my time to fight off restlessness.

It helps to have a supportive, and maybe more business-inclined, husband for these times. He did his usual numbers magic and figured we could jump into it with minimal risk and I did mention that I have a basic market for the stuff. Plus, since the intention to use the products ourselves is there, it would still remain a pragmatic move.

The face of a kitty confident that Mama's got his back.

I realised though that WAHM Stage Two is merely a happy by-product of the actual goal which I mentioned in this morning's entry. I want my family to be able to say that yes, we are taking, in our own little way, concrete steps towards promoting animal welfare beyond shelter volunteering. As mentioned, Human Nature has received the PETA Bunny (and is the first company of its type in the Philippines to receive it) which says a lot to me as far as their dedication to producing and promoting "only the good" goes.

Mind that I am not aiming for an instant 180 turn around. For that to happen, I have to be completely obsessive over everything and I do not have the energy for that since it will require a great deal of research and possibly even some letter writing.

But I like that WAHM Stage Two is going to help me and my family get there. By taking on the use of products produced by companies like Human Nature and supporting similar companies, it extends my volunteer work into other areas of my life. With the exception of going vegan. Sorry, I really don't think I can give up my meat but I'll certainly try to look more into those who honestly support more humane meat production.

And with that, I believe I've officially set a sub...or is it primary?...goal for Project WAHM.