Work

I rarely talk about my work and what I do here on my blog, but believe it or not I do work! So I thought I would write a post about it to share a little bit more about my work life. Plus I always like to see how other moms juggle working while being a mom. I am fortunate enough to be able to have the best of both worlds because I work part time from home. Dream right?! Well let me tell you how this is possible and how I make it work.

We own a business. A Internet based eCommerce business and we ship products worldwide. My husband started this business 10 years ago, and after we met and I moved in I started working for the business. We have 6 employees who work at our office/warehouse and I do all the payroll, insurance, HR, taxes, bookkeeping, I do check runs twice a month and manage other operational things that have to get done. I do all my work from home, but stop by the office to check in with everyone 1-2 times per week. I also help manage my husband (who is the CEO and President) and I guess if I gave myself a title (which I don't, I don't need a title) it would be CFO, Operations Manager, Office Manager, HR, and Bookkeeper.

When I first started working for the business I was full time with Kay in daycare full time, but I quickly got burnt out and really really wanted to have more time with her. We were (and are) financially secure enough for me to do that, so I backed off my hours and reduced her time in daycare/preschool to just 3 days per week. Once I did that, it took me a while to learn to balance it out and get the most out of my "work" time. And I surely don't think I have it all figured out yet (do we ever?) but I have found a rhythm to this whole working-at-home thing now since i have been doing it for the past 5 years.

Once Miss M was born, I tried my best to keep up my pace (I came home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon and was working doing payroll on Monday morning!) I tried the whole "I will just work while she naps" thing and within 4 months of her being alive I was BURIED alive in work. I had gotten so behind and could not catch up for the life of me. Every time I would start to work, she would wake up, or she would need a bottle, or the phone would ring. Plus I was also trying to adjust to being a mother of 2 and making sure that Kay was adjusting well too... So when she was 4 months old I hired the nanny to come 2 full days per week. She comes Monday and Thursday from 9-4 and I dedicate those hours to getting my work done. Keep in ind I still work on other days; for example I worked a few hours yesterday and today because sometimes things cant wait until the next Monday or Thursday. And some days I don't work at all, which is nice!

I love being able to work from home, and wouldn't not trade it for the world, but it's work and it does have its downside. A lot of people think because I work at home that I don't work, which is not true at all. I am responsible for a lot of very important things with the business, and I do work! However, it is very easy to get side tracked, which makes it very easy to get behind. I still feel like I am always splaying catch up, because my work hours are limited I really have to manage my time well and sometimes I fall behind with this. Now its hard because Miss M knows I'm here and constantly wants to see me. Then the nanny comes and grabs her, then she cries, then she tried to come to me again, so now I have to pretend I am actually leaving the house to trick her! I will put my shoes on, kiss  her, tell her bye bye and that Mommy will see her later, and walk out the door....then I sneak back in the back door and to my desk. And as long as I don't talk- she doesn't know I am here! Ahhhh its' crazy! The nanny does take her our for a few hours too while she is here, so that helps too.

In total I probably work 18-20 hours per week. To me, its the perfect balance between being a mom and working. I feel like I am productive outside of my mommy duties but I still get to have all the luxuries of a stay at home mom. I will always feel a push and pull, like I should be doing more work some days, or days where I wish I could just let it all go, but overall I am very happy and lucky to have the flexibility.