There are times when it seems as though I get absolutely nothing accomplished. I am sure that I am not the first home-based professional parent to feel this way, nor will I be the last. At times like this I wonder, am I really that bad at managing time that I am not getting anything done or am I getting things done but not things that are readily quantifiable or things that society assigns a high level of importance to. Fortunately, I believe that the latter is the case because I do not sit on my bottom all day eating Twinkies and watching television. We do not even have television at my house. My feelings are not the fault of anyone, but perhaps they are a reminder to myself and other home-based professional parents that feel this way from time to time that importance, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
For example, most of the things that I do each day are not monumental tasks. Things like washing dishes and laundry, cooking meals, playing outdoors, and reading stories may not seem all that important to me while I am doing them. Each of these things is in its own small way important as part of the larger picture of what I am doing with my life right now. Also, many of those things are viewed as important by other people even if not by society as a whole. I am sure that my son considers his nap time and bed time stories, outdoor adventures, and meals to be very important even if he does not yet have the words to say so or the inclination to express his feelings about those things. They are important to me, too, although I sometimes have to sit myself down and remind myself of this.
The work of a parent is important work. In the course of each day we educate young minds, foster creativity, provide emotional guidance, feed growing bodies, and so much more. We also keep our homes relatively tidy and take care of our own needs, at least most of the time. Home based professional parents do all of these things and more, adding responsibilities like producing work, attending to administrative tasks, and securing additional work as needed. Any time that you feel as though you are getting nothing done, sit for a minute and ask yourself whether that is really true. Go through your day and think about all of the things that you have done, and realize that no matter how you feel about doing them they have a purpose – often a far greater purpose then they may seem to have while you are in the moment doing them.
Photo by lisafanucci on morguefile.com.