I’m an active freelance copywriter and blogger, and one of the things I realized only recently is that freelancing and motherhood don’t always go well together.
You’d here people saying that freelancing has helped them by giving them the opportunity to be with their families while working, but what you haven’t heard are the trials, challenges, and even failures that come with the ability to work from your own home. I’ve experienced these failures in particular for myself and to be honest, I still haven’t come up with a better solution than to hire a yaya or to cut down on your workload.
Doing Both Can Be Just as Stressful
Here’s what I think:
Being a mom and a freelancer is absolutely possible. You can definitely find joy in being able to earn for your family AND at the same time spend quality time with your kids. That is, if your kids can walk, talk, entertain themselves, and attend school.
But if you’ve got an infant or a year-old baby who can’t lift herself up without possibly hurting herself, you might want to reconsider working from home first.
Your child needs you to keep an eye on her while she explores the world. She needs you to catch her when her knees buckle, cushion her fall when she decides to lie down, and steady her when her legs finally lose their strength.
It’s going to be extremely difficult on your part to have to jump out of your seat (while in the middle of work) just to hold your baby and keep her from falling or banging her head. You lose your momentum, your focus, and are left in a state of exhaustion from trying to entertain your baby and keep her from causing any more mischief.
So What’s the Best Move to Make?
If you’re planning on going back to work or starting a freelance business, think about what you need to do to be able to manage both motherhood and work first. If you have family or a nanny to care for your baby while you’re busy working, that’s awesome.
But if you’re still on your own and your child’s in her 1st to 3rd years of life, I believe waiting till she’s big enough to go to school, to carry herself, and to find joy in the toys and books around her is a better move to make. This way, you’ll not only spend quality time with her, you’ll be able to watch her grow and witness her first milestones. This, I believe, is vital and something mothers must never miss out on.
Of course, not all mothers are the same. I may feel that freelancing and mothering babies isn’t a good idea, but others who are able to manage both wonderfully might have a different opinion about this. If you’d like to share your thoughts and opinion about freelancing and motherhood, please go ahead and share in the comments below.
Photo credits to Extension.org
Source: Mom Notes
