I currently work as a freelance writer/editor/virtual assistant and of course, I work from home. This gives me the chance to work, as well as spend more time with my family than I would have had if I had the typical desk job. Sort of, kinda.
Well, to be honest there is a lot to juggle and get right in order for everything to run smoothly. Let’s first get something straight, it’s not all pjs and Netflix over here. Most days it goes well, but the last two months have been quite the spectacle. You see, L has been on holidays from preschool for the past two months and the hubby and I had to negotiate our time in order to get our work done and still entertain a rambunctious 4 year old. We did our best and at first I got next to nothing done most days because I had my laptop set up in the living room, which meant that almost as soon as I turned it on L would proclaim, ‘I want to play, mommy!’ and I would be caught in between the rock and that hard place of duty to my work or disappointing my son. At first, my son always won out and I found myself getting more and more frustrated. Any one who has children knows that it is hard enough to have a conversation with another adult when there is a child in the midst, much less even attempting to work seriously. This becomes basically impossible.
The constant begging for attention (which they do deserve) is, well, constant. We even told L one day that if he didn’t let mommy work we wouldn’t be able to get him those snacks he likes so much (because mommy works for biscuits apparently). He understood for the most part (blackmail of small children is totally a rewarding exercise by the way, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise)… He understood for that day, but because children are children he was back the next day so I had to take drastic measures.
I decided that I had to remove my work space in order to get anything done. I set up my laptop in what was originally a computer room, way back when we actually had a desktop computer, but had somewhere along the line morphed into a store room/sewing room. This was my new work ‘sanctuary’. Far enough away (up a flight of stairs) to prevent frequent interruptions from a 4 year old, but close enough to yell random stuff to my husband if need be. It was hot, but it would have to do. I negotiated with my hubby (the fitness instructor) that the times that he did not have clients, I would escape to my ‘office’ and he would entertain the boy. It has worked 90% of the time, which is a lot better than barely nothing.
Thankfully, the holidays are coming to an end and L should be in school for a sweet 5 hours every day! So unless he is sick or there is a holiday in the week, things should be back to some semblance of normal. School; the ever saving grace!
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