I came across this Washington Post article on "Terrible Teens" and this opening line, "Every mom seems to have a different theory when it comes to the "ideal" time in her children's lives to be working outside the home."
It would be safe to say that the world looks down on mothers and even fathers who decide to stay home and raise their kids. Once the kids are in school you should be able to work outside the home without any big problems right?
As a single mother I know what it is like to try to balance work life, home life and a social life. Having worked outside the home on my 'first' set of kids (there are four older kids; 23, 21, 20 and 18) and working at home with my 'second' set (3 younger kids; 10, 10 and 5) I can say I have been a lab experiment for the effects of working outside the home on your children.
I had a gap of about a year between my first stint at working from home and my current work-from-home foray. The biggest surprise I had was that my older kids, teenagers at the time, all voiced a desire for me to work from home. Now of course, you have to be able to interpret teengage speak but they wanted me home!
These guys are going to be grown and gone with Mom and Dad begging for them to come and visit one day! If you can work from home and be there for them and let them be there for you (and my kids have been there for me!) why not?
Marta, I totally agree with your conclusion, Why not? I know that my wife and I homeschooled our children for a number of years, and we've never regretted it.
I couldn't make the choice between making more money and my children even look like one.
We adapted our business around our lifestyle, rather than the other way around. It worked great!
Posted by: Gary Bourgeault | April 16, 2006 10:34 PM | Permalink to Comment