WHY BEING A WORK-FROM-HOME PARENT IS HARDER THAN AN AT-WORK ONE

Being a parent is hard work, period. It takes sacrifice, long hours, lots of money and also more love than you ever imagined you had. It’s a rewarding task, but it’s not without its challenges – that’s for sure. For many who can’t be stay-at-home parents due to financial reasons, balancing that work/home life can be difficult. But what about those who can work from home while still taking care of their children? Trying to that balance can be even harder since they literally have to juggle two things at the exact same time.

Although both jobs are difficult, here are some ways being a work-from-home parent can be harder:

1. Trying to meet deadlines is tough

Sure you don’t have to get up and commute in the mornings to go to work as a work-at-home parent, but trying to make deadlines when you’re basically running on your child’s schedule can be really difficult. Although naps are wonderful for getting more work done, they’re not always very predictable. Even if you have your child on a tight nap schedule, there are some days when they only nap for 20 minutes instead of their 2-hour nap or when they fight you for their regularly schedule 2pm nap. Trying to meet deadlines while making sure your child isn’t getting stuck in the dryer isn’t exactly easy, whereas those who actually have to go into work can get their job done with little to no interruptions.

2. You never really leave work

As a work-from-home parent, you wake up to work and go to sleep to work. There’s never this “clock out at 5” end to your workday. Nope, instead after the kids are in bed and the dishes are done, it’s right back to the computer for some last minute emails, reports, etc. And you can literally work into the night if you couldn’t do much during the day, leaving you very little time to sleep; because before you know it, your alarm is ringing at 6 am to get the baby. Then you have to start the cycle all over again!

3. Other chores fall behind

For work-at-home parents, it’s either work or kids and much of the housework gets pushed back to whenever time can be found. Despite having a day’s To Do list, when you’re trying to fit in work while keeping your toddler busy, sweeping and cleaning the bathroom often gets pushed back to the next day’s To Do list and so on until you’ve literally got a weekend full of chores ahead of you.

Being a working parent is never easy. But it can be extremely hard for work-at-home parents trying to find the time to actually get work done, while still trying to find time to play with their children, do the laundry and get dinner on the table by 6 pm! But on the bright side, they can easily attend that conference call in their PJs!