I am like many other parents that work at home, why does everyone assume that I am unemployed? When I say I work from home the assumption is made that I clean house and take care of the kids; that is my work. The reality is that I manage finances for our business plus I keep up four blogs; two of them fairly large and two new ones. I take care of my kids and clean house on top of this.

I was talking to a friend of mine over the weekend and she asked if I was going to get a “real job” once the kids are school aged. What is it about my job that isn’t real? Is it the fact that I can walk to my office in my pajamas without enduring the morning rush to get the kids to daycare and fight traffic all the way to work? Or is it that I couldn’t possibly consider myself working while raising my kids?

I had an Executive Corporate job back before Georgie was born and worked 70 hour weeks consistently. The “real job” I had back then seemed hard; what I do now is much harder. I am trying to balance work with raising children. I have to try and balance quality time with my kids with getting work completed. It is not uncommon to find me awake at 2am fighting with my worst enemy, Quickbooks. I never go to bed before midnight and when I do I lay awake, my mind racing with all the things I need to achieve when I wake up. My late night work habits mean that I never get more than 6 hours sleep a night and this is starting to take its toll on me. I have yet to find my happy balance between work and family life.

I guarantee my job is real. There have been times that I have told my husband that I would like to have a 9-5 job just so I can have a break. My life would be a lot less hectic if I worked outside the home but I am committed to making sure that our family business succeeds just as much as I am determined to raise happy well-rounded children.