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I’m Sierra. I live in the Boston area with my family.

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The life of a work at home mama

by Sierra on September 17, 2009 · View Comments

in humor,parenting

Rio: Mommy, why aren’t you playing with me?

Me: Sorry, sweetie, I’m working.

Rio: Can’t you just say to the people you’re working for, “Sorry, I have two kids and one of them needs me for an hour, I can’t do my work.” Can’t you say that, or would that be mean?

Me, kind of staggered: No, I could do that.

Rio: Will you, Mommy? Will you?

Me: Sure. Just let me wrap up what I’m doing.

Rio: YAY! Oh, and Mommy, be sure to say please. You should say, “Please may I stop working.”

So, um, editors of my writing and parents of my preschool: I am taking the next hour off. My apologies if that article isn’t on your desk tomorrow morning or the sippy cups haven’t been washed and lined up in their usual spot.

(Obviously if I knocked off work every time my five-year-old wanted my attention I’d never get anything done, but there’s nothing urgent on my plate that I could actually finish in the next hour, and being her mom is still my main job)

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Tagged as: parenting, rio, wildflowers, writing

  • I so feel your pain! While I do enjoy working, and keeping my hand in my field, it is a hard thing to juggle that I struggle with daily. The summer was incredibly hard for me with my 3 and 4 year olds really not understanding why I was in the office. Now that they are back in school, it's a bit easier. 60% of my work can be done when they are in bed, but I find it really hard to be motivated enough to spend my nights that way. After a full day of running around, cooking meals and cleaning, I want to unwind with my husband and do some mindless things like watching tv! It's all a very delicate balance. Thanks for writing this -- I needed to read it, especially as I prepare myself for a doozy of a week to meet several deadlines. It's nice to know there are other moms out there who can commiserate!
  • Rich Wilson
    My trouble is that my son is young enough that he has difficulty with sometimes Dad can take off an hour, and sometimes Dad can't. Luckily Mom is also home to step in. I do feel pretty lucky that I have some flexibility to shift some of my work into the evening when he's asleep.
  • It's been five years of balancing, with a lot of falls and missteps, but I think we're in a pretty good groove now.

    I teach preschool out of my home four mornings a week. My kids participated last year - now Rio goes to kindergarten but the little one is with me. That represents about half my work life. Then I take the afternoons off, for the most part, to just be a mom with my kids. After they go to bed, I do my writing and editing work.
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