The Challenges and Rewards of Being a WAHM (Work-at-Home Mom)

Becoming a work-at-home mom is one of my biggest blessings from God. I prayed for this kind of lifestyle and I had been blessed to be living this dream for years now. It's a wonderful lifestyle but it has its own challenges.

Let me enumerate some of my challenges as I work from home.

1. I need to think fast.
2. I need to work quickly and still deliver outputs of good quality.
3. I need to meet deadlines at work while managing a home and caring for small kids.
4. I need to work around my kids' schedules. I need to either wake up early in the morning or stay up late at night (like right now) to get some serious work done.
5. If I choose to work while the kids are awake, I should expect to be distracted and disturbed OFTEN. Therefore, I should only do tasks/work that do not require a lot of concentration or much of my neurons. ;)

I thank God that He has prepared me well for this set-up. He has given me a lot of experience when I was still working in the corporate world that I grew to be very competent in what I do. (Click here if you want to find out more about my work.) I can deliver the expected outputs in relatively less time than a lot of people. I can design, organize, manage, and implement HR programs even with a lot of other things on my plate. (I've always lived a hectic but meaningful life!) I do not say this to boast. What I'm trying to say is that God has a lot to do with the kind of experience that I have gained over the years. It was He who gave me enough courage to pursue my passions, to learn from scratch, to climb the corporate ladder, and eventually get out of the rat race to live the dream that has been planted in my heart. That dream is to build a family and devote much of my time to them.

Working from home is challenging. I can't do many of the things I used to do at work. I cannot work too long on something I want to focus on and always meet the deadlines I have set for myself because there are little kids that I need to feed and take care of. And these kids expect me to look at them, to hold them, to play with them, to listen and talk to them, to answer their questions, to give them what they need at the moment, and to just be part of their little world. There are laundry baskets that get filled with dirty clothes, floors that get too messy to step into, dishes that fill our kitchen sink, and pots and pans that fill our stove top, and so much more.

These adorable kids motivate me to work from home.

Why do I choose to work this way in spite of the many challenges? I began by enumerating my challenges. Now, let me enumerate my reasons for choosing to be a WAHM.

1. I want to see my children grow.
2. I want to witness their milestones.
3. I want to personally take care of most of their needs.
4. I want to have plenty of time with them now that they are young.
5. I want them to remember me as part of their childhood.
6. I want more quality time with them.
7. I want to be near them and observe them up close.
8. I want to be the main person in molding their values and character.
9. I want to be their first teacher.
10. I want to have a strong relationship with my kids so I choose to invest in my relationship with them as early as possible.

This week is another hectic week for me. (When did I not have a hectic week? hmmm... Okay. There were a few in the past.) I'll be conducting an out-of-town teambuilding and strategic planning workshop for one of my new clients this Thursday. I've been doing some work at home in preparation for this event. I've been doing this on top of household chores because we currently do not have a maid. I've been doing some of these tasks while breastfeeding my youngest son or supervising my eldest son's homeschool lessons. Aside from this workshop, I'm also preparing for another event, which will happen next month, in relation to my latest book.

It's definitely NOT an easy path. But it's a path I'd rather take because I have a BIG WHY that moves me to persevere in the midst of my challenges. I keep choosing this kind of life because I have a clear vision of how I want my children to remember me as their mom/parent.

Are you also working from home? What challenges are you facing now? Or are you thinking of becoming a work-at-home mom, too? Feel free to leave a comment to share your reason for wanting to be one and the possible challenges that you foresee yourself to face in the future.