Shannon’s Stuff

As I wend my way through my maternity leave, I’ve been struggling with how to balance working and parenting. I have discovered that parenting — especially taking care of a baby — is more than a full-time job. It is a 24-hour, never-off-the-clock responsibility. (Parents, forgive the “well, duh!” moment you experienced after reading that last sentence; this is one of those things that we are told repeatedly before we have children, along with the warnings about not getting enough sleep and becoming obsessed about poop, that we don’t really believe will apply to us until we actually become parents. If we knew exactly what we were getting into beforehand, no reasonable, sane person would make the decision to have a child, and our species would perish.)

So even a part-time, telecommuting job — the ideal situation — will still have to compete with the demands of parenting. If I don’t want to bite the bullet and become a stay-at-home mom, I need to figure out how to reasonably balance my commitments to my employer and my responsiblities for my son.

Unfortunately, I have found no answers yet. This is probably an area that each family has to map out for themselves. But I have found a few helpful resources on the Interwebs.

First, the Brazen Careerist – whose advice I often don’t agree with, by the way — has concluded that one cannot be both successful at work and at taking care of the home. Her advice is to either have one person in the partnership stay home or hire help (at an exorbitant cost, which makes you wonder whether it’s worth working). I do think that it’s exceedingly difficult to excel at both, but what if you just have a job-job and sacrifice the outstanding career to be a great parent?

Mommy Gets Paid is more on this track with a three-part series on working at home. She asks first, “Is it for everyone?” Assuming it’s for you, she goes on to address the topics of affording it and productivity.

To determine whether the second income is even worth the sacrifices, use this second income calculator. Inc. Moms has job posts and other resources for parents who work at home. Work It, Mom! is an online community for working parents. And if you choose to work for yourself, here are 101 essential freelancing resources from Freelance Switch.