Who wouldn’t think being able to make an income while also staying home to raise your children wasn’t the perfect situation? While you work on your computer, your well-behaved toddler happily entertains himself at your feet. Or you can be closing that big deal over the phone with a client while also icing your child’s birthday cupcakes. Those are some of the idyllic situations everyone seems to picture when they first consider working from home. It’s perfect. You can have it all without any fuss, right?

Unfortunately there is no perfect blending of domestic and office bliss. That simply isn’t what happens in the real world. Instead, you can’t seem to get anything done because your kids won’t stop arguing. Your conference call has to come to an abrupt end when your youngest has a temper tantrum. And that cake never did get iced.

So, as in much of life; especially when one has children, the dream isn?t quite the same as reality. What are the pitfalls of working from home and being a mother? What can happen to trip up that happy image?

One of the biggest challenges is scheduling time to actually get the work done. Some moms find that they have to hire a babysitter or a nanny to watch the kids so they can work without interruption. While this works in some instances, it is a costly solution that can severely reduce your earnings. Instead of hiring a babysitter, an older child may be able to watch the younger ones while you work. This, too, is not without its pitfalls. You will still be interrupted when arguments and disagreements arise between the siblings.

Children aren’t the only ones who will interrupt your work. If you have pets at home, you’ll often be pulled away from your desk to tend to their needs as well. One mom who runs a lucrative business with on-line auctions quickly learned that her dog would go crazy whenever the delivery van would come to the house. She would have to settle down her dog down, who was barking loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss, while also having to deal with the delivery man and keep her children happy. But what can she do? Her children love that dog. And so does she.

Some work-at-home moms work at night when the children are asleep. Some handle customer service calls or do bookkeeping. The house is quiet and there is on one to interrupt. However, the next day, mom is exhausted from working all night but must face the next full day of taking care of her children. Naps are required and not just for the children, but for the work-at-home mom.

Depending on the job performed, there are other pitfalls of working from home and being a mother. Pay can be low: sometimes work-at-home moms are not paid for their work. Sometimes employers find ways of rejecting the work claiming poor quality. Benefits such as health coverage and pension plans are scarce. But the work-at-home mom knows that those children she has raised can be counted on to take her in and car for her in her elder years.

In addition to the interruptions, the low pay, and lack of benefits, perhaps the toughest pitfall facing work-at-home moms is the lack of adult contact. No longer will you be able to pop into your coworker’s office and chat about the latest television show or to seek help on a task you’ve undertaken. Your children will be more interested in the bug they found outside, or the video they want to watch for the hundredth time, or to give you big hugs with their candy-coated sticky fingers than in your work. Well, I suppose that’s a pitfall most moms would gladly accept.

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