We mamas are all too familiar with the mama drama going on between staying at home or going to work. The truth is, all mamas do what they gotta do. So we're just gonna leave that there. But the real truth is, not every mama who works leaves the house, or her pjs for that matter. Judge me later. A lot of mamas (like yo girl writing this delightful post) work from home while being a SAHM. Saves us money on uber and we don't have to shower to go into the office. You don't gotta go to work, work, work, work, work, work, work.... JK mamas. But seriously! The day in the life of a SAHM/working mama is no joke. I brainstormed with a couple of my other at-home-working mamas to help shed some light on the subject.
SCHEDULES
Let's be real with each other. When you are staying at home, your schedule is usually all over the place because your kid is all over the place. Every day is going to be a little bit different. So, if you were able to sit down for a conference call at 9 a.m. yesterday while your babe ate breakfast and watched TV for 30 minutes no problem, doesn't mean that's going to happen today. You've gotta be flexible! It means squeezing a few minutes of work in here and there, and not getting too discouraged when you get interrupted for SUPER important reasons like your 2-yr-old can't reach far enough into the toilet to grab his favorite train that he threw in there.
COMMUNICATION
Working from home doesn't mean that you're able to shut yourself up in your house all day every day and get it all done by yourself. Truth is SAHM working mamas need a little help here and there just like those mamas who go into the office. Sometimes it means waiting until hubby gets home, asking him to take your little one to the park for an hour, while you bang out a couple of blogs or teach a pilates class. Sometimes it means asking a friend if they'll watch him for a while if you know you've got a busy day, and you'll need to spend more time working than usual. Being open to communicating with our friends, spouses and even our babes, about when we need some time alone to get work done is a pretty common thing!
REWARDING
When you're staying at home with your babes, it can sometimes feel a little bit like you're a one trick pony. We've all been there. When someone asks what we do, and we give them that blank stare, and mentally try and formulate a reasonable response when the honest answer is, "Keep my kid from killing themselves and try to secretly go to the bathroom so I don't have an audience." When you work from home, it gives us mamas something additional to be proud of and to help us make connections with other people. And don't give me that look. YES, being a SAHM AND not working is something to be proud of as well. Wear that title PROUD, mama. But when you're able to make connections with other writers because you blog, or hold on to those colleagues from your old company, it helps you retain a little bit of the other aspect of yourself.
VERSATILE
Pretty safe to say there are a million different jobs for a million different people, and all of them can be done a million different ways. Working at home while being the primary caretaker for your kids is no different! You just get to decide what works best for you. Sometimes your work requires that you have a set schedule, you work it out with your spouse or a babysitter, and then you get the job done then. Sometimes, you're able to get the majority of your work done over a couple of days and have the rest of the week to spend with your kids or husband. Sometimes, it means all day you're with your babe, and at night you're grinding out the work. The truth is, there's no right or wrong here!
STRESSFUL
It's not all roses at home, ya know? Like with any job (at home or at the office), you can get behind. You put things off. Things get piled up. You end up with a weeks worth of work to do in 2 days, and your child also got a popcorn kernel shoved up their nose earlier (safely removed) and are still traumatized from the experience. You cannot possibly fit it all in. Unfortunately, mamas who SAHM to work don't have the office to go, lock the door and get it all done. They have said toddler clinging to their leg screaming "NOSE" over and over while you're trying to schedule out the next 48 hours. You get overwhelmed. But just like with everything else, you find yourself in that SUPER MAMA mode, and you make it work.
It just might take 100 oz of Coke, a Happy Meal for babe, and some over exposure to Sesame Street to make it happen. But you got this, mama! XO
