Have I Made The Right Choice? - by Cheryl

When I was a little girl my best friend and I played a game called ‘Harriet the Spy’. (We were mad for the book!) We walked around the neighborhood with notebooks, staked out in strategic locations, and collected clues to solve a mystery. What mystery? Well, there wasn’t one, really, so we sort of made one up based on the clues we collected.

This is a game that I continue to play as an adult. In airports or in the dentist’s waiting room I make up stories about the people around me. By observing recycling bins and other yard art I learn a great deal about the people who live in my neighborhood. Sometimes this game leads to serious introspection. As I watch my neighbors drive off to work, I sometimes wonder if I’ve made the right choices.

Working from home means that I’ve eliminated many of the nuisances that come with a work day, but it could also mean that I’ve cut myself off from things vital to career development. Who’s promoting my accomplishments or thinking of me for a new project when I’m not physically there to represent myself? Who knows about my commitment level when I’m always joining via conference call?

Flexibility throughout the day is a great perk for a WAHM, but am I doing my very best professionally by constantly intermingling my home and work lives? Am I as focused as my colleagues in the office? Could I be earning more or gaining more notoriety in my field if I were in a more ‘traditional’ work environment? The intelligent, ambitious woman in me often asks these hard questions.

What do you think?

I think that it doesn’t really matter. Yes, maybe I could get more attention from the boss if I were in an office next to his, but in the end, what will that do? I allow my faith and family to guide my choices, including the one to become a WAHM.

I need only pass through my front door and take in the feeling of the home I share with my children to realize that mostly I’ve made the right choices. Being a WAHM creates challenges but they’re not insurmountable, and they’re absolutely not enough to pull me back into the game. I know what I can accomplish, and I happily take on the responsibility of doing it from my virtual office.

We work hard enough as parents so why find a way to question or feel guilty about a good decision? I hope that faith and family become my legacy and if that’s really what defines me in the end, what difference will it make what I did at work?

Cheryl

WAHM: "What's For Dinner?"

As I debate whether to wake my toddler from her carseat nap or begin dinner prep, I wonder about the dinnertime wizardry other WAHMs work. What's your favorite fall-back default dinner? Your up-against-a-deadline, no-time-to-shop, if-I-were-single-I'd-eat-a-bowl-of-cereal-and-call-it-a-night-but-I'm-not-single-and-everyone's-hungry specialty?

Mine is beef rolls, which I don't eat, but my husband loves. I chop mushrooms and celery, and mix that with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. I spread the mixture on very thin pieces of beef, then roll them like a jelly roll. I cook them stove top in just a bit of olive oil, adding water and extra mushrooms to make a nice sauce. They go together in about five minutes and cook in less than that.

I choose dinner prep. Chop, chop, chop... Ah! No bread crumbs. Geez, this happened last time, too, and I had to use some middle aged stuffing to stand in for the bread crumbs. Rummage, rummage... stuffing's all gone. Hubby will be home in 20 minutes and I hear my angel calling from the garage. I'm looking at a choice between low fat Pringles and bran flakes. What would you do?

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood

Begin Again - by Cheryl

Today I wonder how many times I can simply 'begin again'. First thing in the morning one child is late for the bus and needed to be driven to school. But no fear! I recovered the lost time and began again. I looked at my calendar, and mentally organized my tasks and conference calls.

Then a call didn't happen as scheduled and I had to begin again. I re-worked my errands around my re-scheduled tasks and meetings. I found myself racing through the grocery store in order to return to my desk for the rescheduled call.

After the call I decided to eat my rescheduled turkey sandwich and realized that the turkey was still sitting on the self-check conveyer belt in the grocery store. So I began again....this time with tuna. Am I back on task? Can I get everything done today? I think so.

But wait--a call from the school. Another child staying after for extra help in math and will need a ride home. Now let's see....if I move this thing to tomorrow and do that thing later tonight, I can probably figure out how to begin again........

Cheryl

WAHM: How Will You Begin Today?

I begin today with thanks for all that lies ahead.

I see that framed declaration every morning while I'm at the kitchen sink, and most mornings I think, "Yeah! Thank you for this day and for every unanticipated moment. Bring it on!"

Other times I think, "I don't feel thankful for what I know lies ahead today, and I'm afraid to think what's out there that I don't know about!"

Some days I spend more time at the kitchen sink than I'd like. "It's just the two of us here during the day. Where do all these dishes come from?", I ask my toddler daughter.

"Mama's so cute", she says, wrapping herself around my legs and pulling me down for a hug.

She hasn't yet learned to read but she's already learned to be thankful for all that lies ahead.

How will you begin today?

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood

WAHM Network

Thanks, Donna, for introducing yourself (see Donna's comment on the previous post). How about the rest of you? Wouldn't you like to meet your fellow WAHMs?

Log on and tell us about yourself:
Who you are
Where you are
What your business is
Family stats
Interests and hobbies
What you want today

I'll go -
I'm Sally.
I live and work in western New York.
I'm a freelance writer/pharmaceutical sales trainer.
I'm married to Dennis and we have a 21-month old daughter.
My primary interests besides my faith and family are writing, music, nature, cooking, gardening, and politics.
Today, I want to have an uninterrupted hour of yoga.

Now it's your turn!

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood

God is LOL

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

How's this for irony? My post about How Becoming a Mother Changed My Business Plan is delayed because my toddler daughter somersaulted out of her crib 4 hours before my flight out of town for an overnight business trip.

She's fine and all is well, but it's a perfect illustration of a WAHM's prime directive. BE FLEXIBLE.

I had planned to spend the morning playing tea set and Play Dough, then post a blog article and pack at my leisure while she napped. Instead, I spent the morning running the roads (pick Daddy up from work for the pediatrician visit, go to the pediatrician, take Daddy back to work, go to Target for infant Tylenol, go to the grocery store for a bear-shaped ice pack, go back home, go back to Target for diapers, go back home)and feverishly jammed a suit, a tooth brush, and some saltines in a bag while she "planted" Cheerios throughout my bedroom.

I'm posting this now from a hotel lobby several states from home. I'll be in touch tomorrow from my wonderfully turbulent home office space.

Make a great day!

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood

Welcome to Freelancer Mom!

Welcome to Freelancer Mom, the blog for mothers who freelance from home.

All mothers are working mothers, but those of us who run a business from home (or work from home for a business we don't own) find our work/life balance uniquely challenged. Fortunately, most of us have developed unique ways of meeting these challenges, like conducting conference calls in the bathroom with the phone on mute and a toddler in the tub, or re-setting the dryer again and again because we don't have time to fold the clothes.

All are welcome in this global WAHM (work-at-home mom) community. All we ask is that you share yourself. Your comments, your insight, your challenges, your solutions... recipes, funny stories, time management, marketing strategies, potty training advice... each of us has much to offer. Please, join in!

I was asked in an interview recently, "What's the biggest challenge you face as a freelance writer?" This blog was born of the realization that nothing has challenged me or my business plan more than my daughter's birth.

I've been a freelance writer/pharmaceutical sales trainer for several years and a mother for almost two, and I can't imagine a more exciting (or exhausting!) dual-career.

I remember setting up my first home office with a desk, a file cabinet, and a giddy sense of freedom. This is it, Kid. It's all you.

Of course, it wasn't all me - I had clients and prospective clients too - but it was mostly me. I am marketing. I am sales. I am accounting, administration, IT, maintenance, PR, HR... when do I get to write?!

It's all part of the business plan, I reminded myself. And life was good.

Until I realized that it was also my houseplants and my beta fish and my dishes in the sink and my laundry and my car that needs an oil change and my birthday card for my mother and my recycling toter and my leaves that need raking and an unruly mob of other household time-burglars, none of whom were in my business plan.

And so, I learned. I stopped answering the doorbell between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. I replaced my neurotic tropical plant with a self-sufficient cactus. I let the answering machine pick up the personal line and my husband pick up dinner on his way home. I mastered the art of work/life balance, and was rewarded with a flourishing business and a peaceful home life.

Until...

Tune in tomorrow for Episode 2 "Enter the Beloved Infant".

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood