Confessions of a Work at Home Mom/Housewife
This week I am participating in a Blog Carnival hosted by Eve at Dilly Designs. This carnival focuses on How do you balance taking care of the house and working from home, what are your tips for time management or your stories of not being good at it.
Having been a Work at Home Mom for several years now, I can say with authority that it is much easier to become a work-a-holic when you work from home than when you work out of the home and from an office. While at the same time, it’s much more easy to become distracted.ÂÂ
It’s difficult for family and friends to realize that just because I am at home, doesn’t mean that I’m always available to go shopping, run errands or babysit their kids when they need one.
I’ve been through the mill on each of those and have gotten to the point where I sometimes have to just not answer the phone or door, just to be able to get things accomplished.
My work is seen as one that can be done anytime, day or night and sometimes I feel as though others expect me to stay up till the wee hours of the morning, or wake up several hours before the rest of the family, just to get my work done so I can cater to their needs and demands the rest of the time.
Just because I work from home, doesn’t mean I require any less sleep than someone who works out of the home. It doesn’t mean my job is easier, in fact, it’s far more difficult than when I did work out of the home.
I find myself being pulled in several directions throughout the day, whether it’s laundry, cooking, sick kids, “important” family phone calls, etc.
I suppose my confession would be that many times I really resent others who neglect to see my work as being important and somehow I wish I had a voice that demanded more respect for what I do.
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hi Gayla,
I’m with you all the way, it seems that we SAHM and WAHM are the available person around. I’m sick of that attitude from everyone, I’m trying to make a real hourly schedule like Jo Frost does on the show, but it is hard to keep on track with that…
Mothers deserve respect whether they choose to work in or out of the home. Raising kids in itself is a full time job, and dding other responsibilities to the mix makes it even harder. It’s difficult to garner respect from others unless you have a “real job,” but I think the tide is changing. If we can put an end to the Mommy Wars and support each other, life as a MOM would be much easier.
I hear that when everyone needs a babysitter my door gets knocked on, some neighbors don’t even know me since I rarely exit my house. And everyone that does know me thinks i just sit in front of the tv all day. errrr.
I’m working towards a goal of working from home, and try to read up on the subject regularly. Your post touches me in that I guess I never really think of the lack of “respect” that a work at home person can get. I can definitely see the potential for others to think that because you are at home, your work is in a way secondary. Wow.