The Priceless Value of Working from Home

If you have children, perhaps you can understand where I’m coming from. If you don’t, you will probably read this and shake your head thinking “there’s another one headed for the funny farm.” While the latter may be true, I will honestly be able to say that it is my children who are sending me there. Don’t get me wrong; they are the absolute light of my life. Pretty much everything I do at this point in my life is motivated by them and/or for them. When I was young, I wrote as an emotional outlet. Now I write in order to put food on the table. It’s probably not that serious, we wouldn’t starve if I decided not to write, we just wouldn’t enjoy some of the nicer meals or much of our entertainment. In fact, it’s fairly safe to say that the vast majority of our entertainment budget does come from my writing. Wow, all that just to say that over time, my motivation for writing has changed.

Writing is no longer the creative outlet it once was and I really kind of miss that. Writing used to be my method of sorting my thoughts and seeking clarity among them. I was probably the poster child for ADHD before anyone had a clue what ADHD was. My poor children suffer from it as well and my mother has had her wish that I would have one just like me threefold. Perhaps one day I will apologize, but that will probably have to wait until the youngest is in college. Right now I’m too busy scraping peanut butter off the upholstery and vacuuming strawberry quick mix from every nook and cranny of the kitchen (just so you know powdered strawberry quick mix opened and upended from a height in the kitchen will expand and be found months later in places you never imagined it could go) all the while, earning my spurs as a freelance writer so apologies will have to wait.

I will some day have a clean house as well. To tell the truth I have come to the conclusion that for now, attempting to have a spotless home is a colossal waste of time. Now I’m not talking about deep cleaning and safety, I’m talking about clutter. The endless line of toys and clothes that seem to litter every surface of our home really gets to me on occasion and I go through with a garbage bag, most days I rant or go into my office and shut the door. I really have worked hard to instill the importance of bringing dishes, glasses, bottles, and cans to the kitchen and properly disposing of them. As I write this, it is 5 am. I have the dishwasher and the dryer running while everyone sleeps most days I’ll start the crock-pot at this point in time also. This is perhaps the only time of day when I can write peacefully and get a few chores completed without having to chase a toddler who seems to manage to find her way into constant mortal danger-usually from the toys her brother has failed to put away for the umpteenth time – or beg my 6 year old who thinks he’s Superman Ã?® to stop leaping from one sofa to the other (and eternally reminding him that he really can’t fly).

For now, I will be content to say that I’m a work from home mom who gets paid for doing what I love while spending time with the people I love most. Who could really ask for more than that? I really do have it all although some days I would gladly trade it all for a weekend in the mountains sans children, computer, and deadlines. But then they do something exceptionally cute, like learn a new word or make up a silly story and all is forgiven and I remember why I chose to be a work from home mom rather than fighting my way through the rat race of the world. Like the Visa Ã?® commercial, some moments are simplyâÂ?¦priceless.