Sandwiched
I’ve been sympathetic towards the millions of parents who have recently (and unexpectedly) had to work from home with small children. I remember those days all too well and used to have a different column talking about them. It’s not an easy feat to take care of little ones while attempting to do well at your job at the same time.
When I was hired to work from home for Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources almost 20 years ago while pregnant with Jonathon, I was thrilled to not have to be apart from my baby. I was also nervous. I looked for any guides about how to work from home with a baby or toddler. I found various resources for working at home in general, but nothing to help me figure out how to handle it all.
So, like many people, I had to “wing it.”
Thank God I’m fairly organized and energetic. Soon I wasn’t just working from home with a baby, but a toddler as well, as Jonathon and Jacob are only 16 months apart.
Back then working from home was a fairly new concept. I only knew one other mom who did it. I still kept my eye out for tips about how to keep improving the daily juggling act. Then one day, in my typical fashion, I thought, “Hey, I can write about how to do it!” By then I had over three years of experience.
So in 2004 I wrote How to Work at Home With Small Children. I self-published the little book through lulu.com, a company that is still around today. I probably sold 30 copies, but I was still proud of my first “real” book.
It served as a guide to help parents work with a baby, toddler, or small child beside them and still have a good career. It shared tips on how to prepare for a work at home career; ideas on what type of job to either create or look for that is suitable for working at home with little ones; how to plan a workday; and how to overcome problems. It also featured some of my work at home columns.
I ran across my copy of How to Work at Home With Small Children this week and decided to read through it for fun. It was great to go back in time and remember those crazy but “worth every minute” days. It was also funny to see my tips about how you needed to have a cable modem vs. dial-up for Internet and how it was vital to get a separate landline for your business. Oh, how times have changed!
Working at home is certainly easier for me now, since my baby and toddler are now young men going off to college this fall. In fact, I worry more about the 88-year-old in my life – my mom – while working from home these days.
For the fun of it, I looked the book up online and was surprised to see it’s still out there on Amazon.
If you’re struggling like I was years ago while working from home with small children, feel free to reach out to me through this paper. Or, for some good tips and chuckles, pick up a copy of How to Work at Home With Small Children online.