When my friends ask me if I plan on returning to work, and I inform them that I already have...that I am now working from home ... I am met with responses such as "Oh you lucky thing! That's like...not really having to go to work" or "Oh isn't that lovely! You get to stay home with your baby all day"
And while, yes, they are right - I do get to stay home with my baby all day - I feel that the life of a Work At Home Mum is largely misunderstood.
I feel that it is so easily confused with being a Stay At Home Mum - I would LOVE to be a Stay At Home Mum - but there's a difference.
Yes I am a mom who stays at home - but I work too.
I don't go out the door at 9am every day....instead, my office is upstairs.
In lots of ways this is ideal, no braving the harsh weather, no need to say a difficult goodbye to my child...
But does that mean that life as a Work At Home Mum is simple and carefree?
OH NO!
The most difficult part of life as a Work At Home Mum for me is the pull of knowing my baby is downstairs, just a few feet away, probably doing something really cute that I'd love to see....
While this is also the case for Mums who go out to work, they have some distance there to prevent them from having to hear all the fun being had ...or the tears being shed.
It is impossible to sit upstairs and hear your baby crying without going down to soothe him - if I went out to work this wouldn't happen - but being at home means it does. Many times every day.
Which of course means work is put off, tasks go unfinished and - inevitably - my payment is delayed!
The same thing goes for toilet breaks and lunchtimes - when you go out to work, nipping to the loo or to get some lunch is easy peasy, its usually scheduled right into your day for you! - but at home, its not that easy.
My bathroom is downstairs right at the back of my house - meaning I have to walk through the living room and past my baby boy whenever nature calls - again, how can I walk past and not stop to play with him for just a few minutes?! And once again....tasks are delayed, work is unfinished...payments are delayed.
The other downside is that I still need childcare...I can't just sit in the office and leave my child unattended, so I work when his Dad is home...which is great as it saves a fortune in childcare costs, but the problem is that his Dad doesn't seem to understand that - although I am upstairs - I am AT WORK.
Whenever Tyne's Daddy is working, I find a way to manage tasks such as what to do with him when I need a wee....I manage to feed him without having to report back on how much he ate to somebody - I NEVER call Jon at work to discuss any of these things with him.
So why exactly Jon feels the need to just pop upstairs and fill me in on every tiny detail of whats going downstairs, or pass the baby up to me to watch while he has a wee/makes a coffee/blows his nose I will never know!!!
And finally - the biggest problem I face as a Work At Home Mum - is those around me who like to drop in for a visit.
When you go out to work, your family will NEVER call you up and say "Oh I'm just gonna call in and have a coffee with you at your desk for half an hour!" would they?! Of course not.
But people think its different when you work from home - they assume that there is no time that you are unavailable so they can just call in and you can stop what you're doing to have a chat - because you can just put whatever task you're doing off until later!! Nevermind the fact that I have lost count of how many nights I have had to work until 4 in the morning because somebody just "popped in" and stopped me from cracking on with my job for a few hours!
People don't seem to understand that working from home does involve actually WORKING - if I don't do the work, I don't get paid!! Just like in any other job!
Having said all this, I LOVE my work-from-home job and feel very fortunate to have it - I wouldn't change it for the world.
But if somebody could just install a toilet in my office, a barrier on my door and disconnect the sodding doorbell while I`m working....that would be great!!!!!!
