What Terrifies Me About Working From Home

What Terrifies Me About Working From Home | Houston Moms Blog
credit :: Masami Photography

After 15 years, I have divorced Corporate America. There may be a reconciliation at some point, but not likely. I feel pretty amazing about my choice. As in any divorce, I never planned on it coming to this. I loved my career. I certainly loved my time in my quiet office to concentrate on the task at hand. I never really felt the judgment or conflict that many moms have stated they felt returning to work after having babies. My mom was always a working mom. Her mom worked outside of the home. It’s just what we did in our family. If I came across someone who didn’t agree with that, well, I really couldn’t care less. Being a working mommy felt right to me and my family on all levels.

Until it wasn’t.

I was blindsided by the break-up with my corporate job. Where did we go off the rails? When did the mutual admiration fade away? I blamed my job for my short-temper at home, for me always rushing and never having enough time for anything. Corporate America blamed me for ducking out of the office a little too much {sick kids, 3 pm after school pick-ups, cancelled school days due to weather, long summer vacations, special mid-day school programs, etc.} and “unrealistically” pushing for a more flexible schedule. 

So here I am – embarking on a start-up entrepreneur career with two young children in tow. I have carefully planned and scheduled my work into my calendar. While on paper I am ready to dive into this new adventure head first, I am starting to see some potential landmines in the work-from-home space.

What Terrifies Me About Working From Home | Houston Moms Blog

credit :: Masami Photography

Mom’s Time is Rarely Her Own

I’m just going to say it. Maybe this isn’t true for every family. Maybe this has a slight sexist slant to it, but the truth in my family and many families I know is that mom’s priorities get rearranged for her regularly. I am the one left holding the ball {also the carpool car keys, the clean dishes to unload, the emergency load of laundry, the quick run to the grocery store, the pile of paperwork action items that need to be worked through, and the adamant request to dry tears and kiss boo boos}. And how does that work when mom is just so damn accessible at home, yet still has actual income-producing responsibilities to other businesses?

Going From a Full Day of Work to Three Hours

Oh, I laugh at my own naivete here. My husband warned me about this as he was a work-from-home dad before I joined him at the homestead. There is this magical time warp / black hole thingy that we go through after daycare drop-off until it is time for daycare pick-up, what feels like a lengthy {sarcasm} span of 5 minutes. That first week at home I continuously said to myself “I can’t get anything done! I JUST dropped the kids off and got breakfast dishes put away!! Now I have to pick up kids??” Luckily, we have grandparents and after-care options, but how quickly the hours fly and how difficult it is to get momentum going in that time astonished me.

You See All the Things that Need All the Doing

Does this need any elaboration? The dishes, the laundry, the dying plants in the corner, the photo frame the kids broke last night, the dinner that needs to be put in the crockpot, the decluttering projects I promised I would tackle last month, the PTO assignment, the paperwork to be filed, the constant Amazon deliveries at the front door. All the things that need all the doing.

What Terrifies Me About Working From Home | Houston Moms Blog

credit :: Masami Photography

The landmines are plentiful, but so are the rewards. To the moms who have gone before me, I am looking for coping mechanisms and advice here. Please send help {can be in the form of full staff of service professionals for my household}. Thanks in advance!

If you want to follow along with my transition from motherhood in Corporate America to mompreneur, be sure to visit my personal blog at HTXMom.


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