The following is a post from Kirsten Joy Torrado.
Managing a household is a full-time job as it is. When you’re a stay at home mom you’re the chef, the cleaning service, the taxi cab, the laundromat, and the general CEO of whatever your children need.
You throw on top of that a work-at-home career and a home education program and you’ve got a full plate.
So how does a work-at-home mom who’s also a homeschooling mom manage a household and get everything done?
My answer is…you don’t.
Being a Work-at-Home Homeschooling Mom
I never thought that I would be a stay-at-home mom. I was always pretty career driven but, when my kids were born, it didn’t even seem like a question. There was no way, no how I was going to yield my newborn baby boy to the arms of a daycare worker for the majority of the day, 5 days a week.
And then, kind of the same thing happened when they got to school age. So, we started homeschooling.
That’s about the time that I also started blogging and felt a resurgence in my own purpose as a writer. All of these things combined had a huge demand on my time and I had a hard time figuring out how to get everything done.
The only real way I knew how to survive was to ask for help.
Asking for Help
I had to recognize that my family is my first line of help and they are my biggest allies. In managing the house, I didn’t have to go at it alone.
My husband, first and foremost, is my biggest support and we do this crazy life together. He is the first one to jump in and help to ease my load.
I have to say that I’m awfully glad that he’s so incredibly domestic. He’s a modern man and I really lucked out. He cooks just as many meals, does just as many dishes, and folds just as much laundry as I do. We view the other as our teammate thick and thin, and whatever it takes to help the other chase their dream, we’ll do it.
My kids, although they make a lot of mess around here, are also two of my biggest helpers. Part of their responsibility is taking care of their things.
At ages 7 & 9 they are old enough to keep their rooms tidy, pick up their toys and games when their done playing, and help me clear off the table after dinner. Occasionally, they will also help with vacuuming, sweeping floors, and dusting furniture. As long as I am more concerned with accepting their help than with critiquing it to my liking, I will continue to have their help and support whenever I need it.
They have both cultivated a heart to serve that makes me really proud.
How Do You Do It All?
That brings me to the final question: How do you do it all? What works for your family?
Leave a comment below and share with us your strategy for managing your household while working from home.
Make sure you don’t miss Jamerrill’s 3-part Work-at-Home Mom series where I share my schedule!
♥ My Real Life Work at Home Mom Schedule: Part 1
♥ My Real Life Work at Home Mom Schedule: Part 2
♥ My Work at Home Mom Scheduling Secret Weapon
And for blogging and working online encouragement you can read How I Make A Full-Time Income Online To Support My Growing Family.
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This is encouraging. I’ve always wanted to homeschool my children, but as the only breadwinner, it was not possible (or at least I thought so) when my two oldest were much, much younger. Once my oldest son (one of the two previously mentioned) began getting bullied at school, however, I somehow made it work. No way was my son (or any of my children) going to be tormented at school by anybody. It’s been two years since I started homeschooling, and I couldn’t do it without God’s grace and the help of my wonderful daughter who is now a junior in college. She commutes just so she can help her younger brothers get a quality education without the unnecessary distractions. And we love the quality family time, something we all missed when I worked 12-15 hours outside the home.