The difficult part of working from home is that my job of “mom” to my toddler and 8 week old comes first. That’s not to say that I don’t love being Mommy – it’s definitely my favorite job. But we’ve got bills to pay and my hubby can only work so much, so the working from home bit is a necessity.
Toddler vs. Infant
Having a baby that isn’t mobile yet is the easy part of working from home. Put her on the breast and she’s good for a long while. My toddler, however, is the one that needs my full attention. While that can be tough on the working hours, it is the best part of being home! I like that Clark knows that I’m giving him the attention that he craves.
If you’ve read about me putting down my phone, you know that it hasn’t always been like that. It’s a goal now – and it’s going pretty well on the parenting side! The working from home side can be a little more challenging, but there are a few things that I’ve found that really work for me.
There are also things I’ve found that really don’t work with a toddler in the house.
Clark loves what he calls “devices,” a term he picked up from his Pawpaw that describes smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the like. If he sees my laptop, it is literally all he will talk about. It makes working pretty much impossible.
Also making work impossible is the fact that my boy is a big-time Momma’s boy. If it is a day that my husband, David, is home, you would think I could get at least a few hours of work in. Nope! If he knows I’m locked in the bedroom there’s incessant knocking and “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”
I love that boy a lot, but working while he’s awake is not a possibility.
Scheduling
The solution to working at home with a toddler is to get things accomplished while they are sleeping. In order to get the most work done, I use my handy dandy task list on G-mail. That way I can organize tasks by date. I also note which tasks are to be done during specific times of the day.
My toddler takes a nap pretty much at the same time every single day. That is a huge help in planning out my work. I know that from 2 until at least 3:30 I will be able to work uninterrupted. I know that I have a short article due for a client on Monday, so I’ll be using tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) naptime to get that done ahead of schedule.
I also like to use evenings for work. Clark goes to bed at 8, so I use his sleeping time for work. Evenings are my only real “me time” when David is working nights, so I try to limit work to just a couple of hours in the evenings.
In all honesty though, I am far from a morning person, so I would much rather give up some of my personal time in the evenings than have to wake up earlier than I have to. That said, if I am in desperate need of more work time, the mornings are always available. It seems that Clark has inherited his parents’ love of sleeping in and usually will sleep until 9 am!
Cherish Your Time
Given that many parents these days are considered lucky to stay home with their kids, I am definitely one that cherishes the ability to raise my kids. I’ve gone from working 9-10 hour days five days a week, then coming home to be Mommy, to now being Mommy all hours of the day. It is a real privilege, despite the hard work.
Thinking back to the days I was working full time (which was just a couple of months ago), I can’t believe how I thought being a Stay at Home Mom was an impossibility for our family. I always told myself that having an MBA meant I had to work – especially with my student loans. If you really want to stay home and are able to find a work from home job, it is entirely possible!
Having the ability to actually raise your own kids is a gift. Cherish it if you have it.
Prayer and faith go a long way.