Home – based professionals are a diverse bunch, and I am very happy to be a part of the Home Business blog here at Families.com because it reflects the experience and insight of not just one, but three different home – based professionals. The diversity in our experiences makes it more likely that you, our readers, will be able to relate to the things that we talk about. For example, my co-blogger Richele McFarlin wrote this excellent post today about what she does all day, every day.
Since families are so different and schedules and priorities vary greatly from one home to another, I thought that it was wonderful that Richele shared that information about her family as an example of how one home – based professional gets through her week. Here is my own schedule and family information as another example of what the day to day life of a home – based professional can be like.
My family consists of myself, my husband, our two year old son, and a baby boy who will be arriving mid – April. My husband usually works fifty or more hours per week, and has an hour commute each way to work. His days off and the shifts that he works each day are not the same each week, either. We make the most of it, though, and he is not only the reason that I am able to fulfill my dream of being a stay at home mom, he is my number one supporter when it comes to having my own home – based businesses.
Speaking of the businesses, I have two of them. I am a freelance writer who writes articles and does database editing in addition to blogging. I’m also an attorney with a very tiny private practice – I only have about three open cases at any given time. My work hours take place during my son’s hour long nap (when he takes it) and for approximately three to four hours each night after he goes to bed. When I have to meet clients or go to court, my husband takes care of our son if he has the day off, or we call my father – in – law who lives nearby and has a flexible schedule to take care of him while I go out.
Like Richele, I also have assigned myself cleaning duties on each day of the week. It truly is a huge sanity saver. Most of my time is spent doing the work of raising my little boy. We spend most of the day outside when the weather is nice. Right now, it is rather cold outside so we have been spending a lot of time reading, doing chores together (he loves doing the dishes), and playing with his workbench, blocks, and other toys. We also like to go out to town to go grocery shopping and sometimes meet up with friends for play dates or story time at the library.
At this point in our lives, my husband’s job is his primary occupation and being a mom is my primary occupation. We know that as the boys get older, our schedules and priorities will change. For now, though, we are just happy that we have figured out how to create the life for our family that we want – a life where both adults are able to engage in fulfilling work and the children have a parent at home with them all of the time.