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