Disclaimer -- I am very blessed and I love everything about my life. I am very thankful for my home, my kids, my husband and my work (although not in that order). I realize that a soapbox is a slippery place to reside and want you to realize that I write this in a good humor with a laugh in my voice although I am also quite serious about some of it.
I work from home.
When I say I work from home I mean someone employs me gainfully to be an essential part of their organization. I do not mean that raising kids and keeping house is work (although it is and quite possibly the hardest work I have ever done), I'm not that cheeky. I mean I do the work of raising kids and keeping house while living in said house and looking after said kids (three four and under and one on the way), AND I have a J O B!!
When I say that I work for a small firm that does not mean that we are small in dollars or in reach or that my actual J O B in and of itself is small. I mean that there are six of us, working hard. During off wedding season about 20 people depend on me to disperse compensation to them. This wedding season is so big that I know that number will grow tremendously. I take that very seriously. I also know that I am probably the most replaceable cog in the wheel, I feel that much more blessed for the opportunity.
I once had someone ask me what I did professionally before I worked from home -- 'You know, what did you do as a professional?'. Well, I hope that most days I am still a professional. I attempt to be even if occasionally during a Google Hangout I have a toddler on my knee or have to mute a conference call and simply listen in because someone at my house is in the terrible two's and needs to scream it out!
More than a decade ago when I was still in college, I longed for the days of suits and heels (real heels, "clacker" heels to walk into my high rise office in). I was actually quite good at wearing them (except once when I went down face first on the trade floor just after the opening bell and a heated convo with another trader but that time I had on a pinstriped suit with a large cuff on the pant and it was a disaster!). These days, I hope to make it into a pair of leggings and something that covers my ass or well, since I am currently gestating 4, just anything that fits will do, before noon. I realize that my clothes usually have sticky somewhere and that I have to get up around the middle of the night to be able to shower AND shave - I'm okay with that, I'm up practically all night between night terrors, sleep walking, thirst, leg cramps, sciatica, insomnia etc -- whatever!
What I am not okay with is when you disrespect the delicate balance that I run my house by. If I have an appointment with you, don't show up an hour early (landlord) or don't just show up randomly (landlord again). If you have a delivery to make, give me more than 28 seconds to answer the front gate before you lay on the buzzer again or walk around my house to find another way in (grocery delivery man). I have a church (okay, well, I don't have a church, but I have a religion and have built a church in my heart for the moment), do people go from business to business proselytizing? These things (except one) happened TODAY!
I recently had a situation where the landlord told me that either they or the owner of the property would be over to fix something during a 45 minute window. When they showed up a full hour early I simply didn't answer (it was pre 8 am!). JJ chastised me for my annoyance but hello! If someone showed up for brain surgery an hour early would he just dig right in? Yeah, right!
Cheers!
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