Because of financial necessity many parents believe they have no choice but to leave their children with daycare providers so that they can go to work outside the home. It would be better for the children if this wasn’t the case, and probably much easier if at least one parent had a way to work from home. When a parent works from home naturally they have more of a relationship with their kids.
Another important point is that kids don’t know about economics. What they do realize is that their parents are not there for them most of the time. The relationship does not have a lot of quality time. When you are working outside your home, you see the kids to wake them up, get them ready for the day, and shuffle them off to day care or school. At the end of the day, hopefully you have a nice dinner together, and maybe spend some time with them. Then it is time for them to go to bed.
Just by eliminating the commute times to and from work and daycare, you would have more time to spend with them and feel less rushed. While you are looking at this, don’t forget to consider how much money you can save for child care and transportation. That is money that is no longer going out of your pocket. If you are skeptical because you would make less money if you worked at home at least while you are developing a business, be sure to do the math on what you save by staying home.
When you have the freedom to choose what hours you will work it is really liberating and you will find it much more efficient. Working when your children are napping or at school would be ideal. Of course you can also be working off and on when they are up and running around the house and you can keep an eye on them to be sure they are safe.
There can however be some obstacles to this grand plan like anything else. One is to make sure that your family and friends understand you are actually working even though you are home. They need to respect that time and you can facilitate this by turning on your voice mail for one thing, so you won’t get interrupted. It really helps if you have a room with a door that you can use for a home office and teach your kids that there are boundaries.
There are many advantages if you can see a way to start a business from home, but for parents these are some very important considerations that may encourage you to pursue this idea.
