Work at home parents who successfully crossed over to work outside of the home

[Anonymous]

IME it is nearly impossible to work outside the home FT and be the default parent and give your kids what they need. DH and I make it work by trading off on default parenting and deliberately choosing flexible jobs. I know women who make it work by having a FT nanny. But no one can be two places at once. And you can’t realistically hold down a FT job and always be the parent who misses work for snow days and sick kids and orthodontist appointments and random school holidays. You will make yourself crazy trying.

Sit down with your DH and get real about him needing to pick up more household responsibilities. Or use part of your income to hire good, reliable household help. Or stay with a job flexible enough to accommodate your being the FT parent. I’ve never seen any other arrangement work out on a long term basis.

[Anonymous]

I've worked from home for 5 years.
It's best for our family (3 elementary aged kids) but it's really hard on me. I'm the default parent for everything but I still have the responsibility to produce 40+ hours of work for my (California-based) company. I end up working a lot of evenings, nights and even all-nighters.
I get very envious of my husband who gets to leave this circus for 10-12 hours a day and work uninterrupted in an office. With adults!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a work out of the home mom I have to say that you have no idea what you are saying. I imagine working at home can get monotonous but trying to raise kids and take care of a household when both parents work out the house totally sucks and I can assure you things get crazier as the kids get older. I would give anything to be able to work at home.

+1

+2
What a gift, to be able to be at home.

+3 I have considered leaving my work at home job, but can't imagine how we would function unless I also replaced myself with a governess and housekeeper. I look for social/intellectual stimulation through networking and side projects instead. Might switch once kids are older (high school? maybe?).