The Downside of Working at Home with Children

A lot of mothers dream about working and earning money in a place as convenient as home.  The good news is that there are many opportunities now for work-at-home moms.  However, working at home may be particularly challenging for homes with little ones running about.

The following are possible disadvantages to working at home with children.  They may not actually prove to be problems since there are many factors to be considered. It would simply be helpful to identify these possible drawbacks so that you may be equipped to handle them should the problem arise.

1. Awkward blending of work and home.   Not everyone can deal with the responsibilities of business and children. If you have difficulty in saying “no” to either or both, you could find yourself in a very stressful situation. You wouldn’t want to fall behind on the job because family duties eat into your work time or, on the reverse, to feel like you should be working all the time.

2. Distractions.  Although working at the office has its own set of distractions, they are hardly ever as personal as the distractions present at home.  Even if you have dependable help around, hearing your child crying somewhere in the house urges you to rush to your kid to give him comfort.  Dealing with these interruptions is a necessary skill that work-at-home moms should master.

3. Possible hindrance to career advancement.   Like in the case of telecommuters, out of sight may really prove to be out of mind.  As a consequence, they may be passed over when promotion time sets in.  This may be because management may take your choice to work most days at home as having less career commitment on your part.

4. Quantity vs. quality time.  Just because you are around does not mean that you are available.  You may be physically present, but you do have other things to attend to.   The reality is that you may be home but you have limited free time.

5. Isolation.   You’re not literally alone because the kids are around.  But sometimes you just need adult conversation.  It can be de-stressing to have company around who doesn’t depend on you for milk or a change of diapers and utters more than 2 syllable-words.

6. Bad bites.   Nothing can stop you from heading to your full refrigerator.  And since you are your own boss, you can take as many snack breaks as you can.  On top of that are kids who are eating most of the day.  They have the metabolism to do it; you don’t.  Beware of this bad habit!