Thursday, January 15, 2009

What "Working From Home" Looks Like

I have been working from home for over two years. If I thought it was isolating and socially-stifling a year ago, it was NO PREVIEW for what it would be like with a baby.

Let me explain.

At first, I was giddy at getting to work in my pajamas. PJS! I wasn't waking up at 7:00am, slamming a cup of coffee and my Pop-Tart, and hitting the road to get to work, where the first hour would be spent slogging around on the Internet until it was time to start "really" working.

No, instead, I would get up WHENEVER I FELT LIKE IT, log in, IN MY JAMS, brew me a nice pot of coffee, and work with "Dawson's Creek" reruns on in the background. Start a load of laundry, work while it washed and dried, and be DONE BY 2! (I also cut down my hours to half-time when I started working from home)

It was basically the best thing in the world!

Unfortunately, I started working from home because Vee and I relocated to another state so he could go to grad school. So I was working from home in a new city and DIDN'T KNOW ANYONE ELSE THERE, so I had NO ONE TO HANG OUT WITH WHEN I WAS DONE WITH WORK. Working from home? Doesn't exactly introduce you to new co-workers either.

Sure, I could have hauled my laptop to a coffee shop and worked from there every day. And met me some nice regulars. But I was too enamored by my PAJAMAS lifestyle! For two years, then, I worked from home, met no one, and eventually doubled up on my half-time work by completing a paralegal degree and "talking" to people when I would head downtown to my co-co classes.

We moved back to our town one month before Kiddokabiddo was born, and the plan had always been: I KEEP WORKING FROM HOME, AND KIDDOKABIDDO STAYS OUT OF DAYCARE! It was an A+ situation! No childcare costs, the cash keeps rolling in, and I get to hang out with my baby all day!

Do you know what that translates to?

ALL THE HASSLE OF BEING A STAY-AT-HOME MOM WITH NONE OF THE BENEFITS (time to do mom-groups, excursions w/Kiddokabiddo, etc) and ALL THE HASSLE OF WORKING WITH NONE OF THE BENEFITS (seeing other human beings besides my baby).

I love taking care of my baby, and I love the feeling that I am contributing something to the world outside my house and completing tasks with MY EXPERTISE, but something's got to give pretty soon--I'm living hard to chase the dream way beyond my ways and means.

In my pajamas. At noon.

No comments: