For five days, I am dipping my toe in the “work from home mom” life. I will attempt to work from home and entertain my 18 month old son because daycare is closed for a week. Will I survive? We shall see.
I’ve done this before, so it isn’t new. During winter break and spring break I worked from home while taking care of my son. My job is much more flexible than my husband’s, so I am lucky to be able to do this. However, we have reached a new phase where my son’s energy is endless and everything is up for grabs, literally. He climbs on chairs, knocks over cups on ledges (is he a cat?) and loves to defy me. LOVES to defy me. Also, work sessions get cut short because he only naps once a day (he’s not a cat).
Day One
Before 11am, we went to Starbucks, the nearby park and did a full grocery run. I’m feeling positive and productive! I think the rest of the week is going to go well.
Day Two
It’s not going well today. This boy is pent up and needs to get out of the house! My mother-in-law watched him for a couple hours and I got some important work done. Thank God for her! I’m realizing something this week. I cannot do this without help. If you’re laughing at me now, I don’t blame you.
Day Three
I set a reminder on my phone. It says “Everything will be okay today. Take a deep breath.” I figured I would roll my eyes at my past positive self and scoff. But the reminder was actually very helpful. I set it for 7:30am every morning before or right on the cusp of chaos. This will be a good reminder to keep even when our schedule gets back to normal. I could use this reminder daily.
Day Four
If my son is hanging out in the living room with both gates closed and he is enthralled with the Wiggles, I can use the nearby dining room as a space to take deep breaths in between temper tantrums. I’ve lost count at how many times I’ve said “stop doing that.” My son has been a sour patch kid today. He will slap me in the face then give me the cutest kiss that melts my heart.
The luckiest thing for me, and something I will never take for granted, is both sets of grandparents live nearby. The stars must have aligned for me, because both of my parents took off work this week and offered to watch my son and feed him lunch today. I was able to do a work call and run an errand sans toddler. I get by with a little a lot of help from my family.
Day Five
This week is full of realizations. I could not do this full time. This is easily the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. It is testing my patience, my work ability, and my time management skills. I was able to compromise with my son today, though. If I stood up and balanced my laptop on a ledge in the living room, he would let me work without wailing to come dance a Wiggles dance with him.
Usually, I will have a glass of wine at the end of the day, but this week it has been two to three glasses. I either need to stick with working while sending my son to daycare (sweet, sweet heavenly daycare) or being a stay at home mom. Not both. Any other moms out there that work from home with their children, let’s get together, have a glass (or three) of wine, and you can tell me how you do it. Because holy moly, that was tough!
