A Whole New Respect

Yesterday just so happened to be a not so pleasant day weather-wise in my area. Everything ended up being delayed several hours. I normally go into work very early every day and get off earlier really to avoid traffic and all of the hullabaloo of a morning and afternoon commute, but also to be able to spend time with Emma in the afternoons. So when we were delayed several hours for weather in the morning yesterday, I figured it made more sense to work from home the rest of the day instead of schlepping back and forth for what would only be a few hours at the office.

All in all, I would only end up having to work for three hours from home, just a teeny tiny measly few hours. I thought piece of cake I can handle it with the baby. My husband had a doctor’s appointment so he would be there for part of the time and I was ready to take on anything! Looking back now … I wish I had pushed logic aside and gone in for those few hours. It was very hard to multitask with a baby. I now have a whole new respect for work at home moms.

Emma is still in her clingy phase but usually if I put her on the floor to play with her toys she amuses herself for a while. Well, that was a no go. She wanted to sit in my lap the whole time! I ended up sitting on the floor with her and my laptop to help soothe her need for my presence but this lead to another problem. She was fascinated with my typing. In fact, she was so fascinated that she just had to try it out. She started grabbing and banging and was on the verge of typing baby vulgarity to my co-workers via instant message when I got a brilliant idea! I will give her my non-work laptop turned off and let her go to town! She could type a baby novel for all I care as long as she lets me work. Well, that wasn’t even close to being an acceptable solution to her at all. She ended up slamming the screen shut every time I opened it. I even banged on the keys for her to let her know what to do and she looked at me like I was some sort of primitive animal banging on a piece of metal for no reason.

It was a struggle from beginning to end and I remember looking up at the clock at one point and seeing it was 1:25pm. I waited what seemed like a half hour only to look up at the clock saying it was 1:40pm.

Wow.

By the time 3:30pm came around I had everything ready to go to take a trip to the store to get out of the house. We were both done with the whole ordeal at that point and in need of some fresh air and different scenery. It was an amazing outing.

So for every time I have felt the mommy guilt for working out of the home and for every time I thought working at home would be easier I got a taste of what could be and you know what? Our situation now is pretty ideal for both of us. Emma gets a full day to explore and play with all of her little friends and mommy gets a day of uninterrupted work done. A real win-win if you ask me. Now that I have been through the madness, if only for a very little while, I say bravo to the mommies who can multitask and work from home.

Are you a work at home mom? Any tips for how you make it through the day? Any stories of difficult baby situations you can share?