Home working mother; the pros and cons for me at a glance
A lot has already been written – also on Mamsatwork.nl – about being a mother who works at home. A dream for many, a nightmare for others. It suits you or it doesn't suit you, it's that simple. There are a lot of prejudices about the work-at-home mom. For example, that they 'have it so easy'. I can disprove that right away:working from home and being a mother is not an easy combination. At times it may be easy, but at other times it is very hard.
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Working at home mother; conscious choice or not?
I did not consciously make the choice for me to become a mother who works at home. I lost my job while pregnant, got stuck at home and then decided to start my own business. From home. In retrospect, I think I was lucky with this order. Although I loved my work, I am grateful afterwards for all the opportunities that sitting at home has brought me. The possibility to work from home, for example.
Pros and cons for the mother who works at home
A summary of the advantages:
I haven't had to pay a cent for childcare yet.
I am still breastfeeding now (my daughter is 13 months), I doubt if I would have been able to do that if I had continued to work for a boss.
I see all the developments of my daughter up close because I am at home so much.
Washing dishes, laundry, vacuuming; to do everything when it suits me, for example between two jobs.
Nice weather? Then I enjoy working in the garden, right?
I can work whenever I want. So also in the evening or in the morning at 4.00 am.
There are also disadvantages:
I don't have a permanent babysitter and if I have a job outside the home, it sometimes takes some planning and organization before I can find a babysitter for my daughter.
Children in the house don't take into account your deadlines or the fact that you are at work. Especially not when they are so small.
A hard day's work so that you don't have to do much in the evening is a very nice idea, but on those days your child gets a fever, diarrhea or has a lot of problems with teething. Still working at night again to get everything finished.
The work never seems to stop. With a boss, you close the door behind you at 5 p.m., at home you sometimes just keep going.
Other people think they can come around whenever they want. “You're just at home, aren't you?” Yes, that's right. But also at work 😛 .
If you want working from home as a freelancer to work for you, you need a few things very badly. I now have some experience with it, I wrote a blog about it before.
I will list the things that should not be missing for you.
Do you like working from home? What do you need?
A babysitter on hand for emergencies
A tight schedule
The ability to deal with unexpected situations
A nice workspace
A home front that supports you in your decision to work for yourself from home
The last one is really indispensable to me. Without that support it would be a lot more difficult.
Other interesting articles about working from home can be found here:
Stress and working from home with a baby; welcome to my world
Working from home, how do you do that?
You and your home workplace, do you know the rules and your rights according to the working conditions?
4 tips for successfully working from home with a babysitter
