"Where did you go?" Resurecting the community for the work at home professional

When I launched NetMommies in 1999 it was for purely selfish reasons. I had always prided myself on being "foot loose and fancy free" because I worked from home. It was nirvana! No clocks, no office politics, no "who stole my lunch" from the community fridge. But then the unthinkable...I got pregnant!

It wasn't unplanned. Nope, not at all. My husband and I wanted to start a family. We admired our friends with their children and walked around with a constant cartoon thought bubble above our heads where our perfect family lived. But I forgot one detail. The birth of a child meant I was inviting a permanent office mate that I was 100% responsible for. How would I maintain my professionalism with a screaming, wiggly in the background? Would I be able to juggle feedings and deadlines? Would I be considered a bad mother for putting my child in daycare when my commute is a total of eight feet?

I scoured the net for help. I not only needed a 12-step program to wean me from my carefree ways, but I needed to know that I wasn't alone. There had to be others. But finding them proved more illusive than the Loch Ness Monster or determining who left that little corner of milk in the carton and put it back in the fridge. So I made it myself and NetMommies was born.

Fast forward to today. Two children and nearly a decade later I have decided to come back to the scene of the crime relaunching NetMommies as a blog. Here I will share some of what I learned along the way and ask what I need to know. I will also share some great finds that can help finding that next opportunity easier or help you to stretch things just a little further. I will also talk about what I have learned along the way about my search for the holy grail...balancing work and family when they all live under the same roof.