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atara
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| Posted: April 14 2011 at 3:34pm | IP Logged
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I'd love some encouragement if you work part time and home school!! How do you do it? 
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 14 2011 at 8:25pm | IP Logged
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I work from home as a freelance writer. I do it by never cleaning my house.
No, really, my house is a mess. I do clean it but don't tidy things up the way I wish I could. I could give up co-op teaching or church music or Irish music to free up cleaning time, but...I don't. And my family is good with this level of chaos.
Truly, you can't do everything. Homeschooling is very time consuming, and my freelance work takes me 15 - 25 hours a week, depending on assignments and deadlines. It can be stressful. I try to warn my family if I'm feeling swamped (so they can hide...well...at least understand...!)
On the other hand, the money is nice (it's how we pay for dance and travel), and when I'm really in the writing groove the work is very satisfying. I love working for myself. Even when I'm on a bench in front of the police station in Frederickton, New Brunswick, on Canada Day, hoping to cadge some of the free downtown wife bandwidth to upload the pieces I've been working on all week.
Really.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 14 2011 at 9:57pm | IP Logged
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I work from home and am a single mom to boot. But I think being the single mom covers a lot of the drawbacks of working from home and homeschooling - no husband who expects supper at a particular time; noone else's schedule to work around - so we do a lot of go-with-the-flow. We also have speech therapy, parish atrium, church choir practice and boys' club (that last one being one where I don't participate other than to drop him off and I get 2 child-free hours every week - a mixed blessing!) -- and those activities are way more than enough; I'll be happy when things settle down for the summer.
We go back and forth between a relatively strict schedule and entirely going with the flow - it ebbs and flow throughout any given month, but follows relatively predictable patterns.
I also make sure there is a set amount of together-time each day; a set amount of 'you must work independently or bust' time; a set amount of clean-up time... and lots of family projects specifically geared towards clearing out junk and clutter so that we have less to clean up :)
It can be done - but you've got to really know your family, yourself, everyone's individual needs - and be willing to hold to certain choices (while not sacrificing your family!) to maintain the balance.
AND - get the kids involved in the working, whatever it can be. When I worked out of the home for a short time (2-3 10-12-hours day a week), my son packed my lunch for me as his way of 'being' at work with me - and utilizing our at-home together better. I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore - I'd rather make meals together and eat them together too!
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drmommy
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| Posted: April 15 2011 at 9:19am | IP Logged
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I work three mornings per week, and do errands for my disabled father, have a disabled child myself, and have a husband with varied hours. I also have four children.
It CAN be done!We keep our house very simple, and the activities simple (CCD, Girls' Club and piano), and the meals simple. This helps with planning and coordinating the schedule. I stick to a pretty strict schedule, which helps. However, as life happens, things get in the way, too. We just smile and move on.
I do homeschool all year 'round, and take breaks if needed. We do homeschool in the evenings (history, reading and literature). We have no television, which really, really helps.
Keep your chin up, keep plugging along, be positive, and offer up your day to the Lord, and all will fall into place. I find it was the outside activities that were swallowing up time.
God Bless you in your journey.
Bridget
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JennyMaine
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| Posted: April 25 2011 at 12:35pm | IP Logged
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I definitely want to encourage you that it can be done! I think it certainly helps, though, to be realistic about what you can achieve in a given week and to lower your expectations of yourself in certain areas.
Here are some things that have helped me.
-Like Nancy said, not having a perfectly orderly home. It's not a disaster, but it's not going to be featured in Country Living, either. And I'm ok with that! We do the best we can. If I have to choose between cleaning/organizing or homeschooling, I homeschool.
-Simplify. And I mean everything. Get rid of everything you can spare. Sparse and simple make life much more easy. Set a goal to get rid of half of all the clothes in the house. Each bed has one set of sheets, etc. Simplify your meals. I'm a single mom, so I can get away with announcing that we're having Cheerios for dinner! But at the minimum, you could do some batch cooking for the freezer, simplify the breakfast and lunch choices, etc. Feel free to use paper plates.
-Stop running around. This one is huge. I have to do errands for our household and for my mom, who doesn't drive. That includes transportation to all her doctor appointments, etc. We combine errands whenever possible. My teens attend youth group, and one has a p.t. job - that is their only activity this year. I'm very honest with them about what my limits are. That is better than being an angry and frustrated mom.
-School year round, stopping when you are at the end of your rope. We also take the entire month of December off each year. During the summer we flex if there's something we want to go do, but when the temp is in the 90s we'd all rather be indoors by the a/c anyway.
-My self-motivated, studious teen is using Seton. That has been awesome. It has freed up some of my time from lesson planning to work with the sibling that really needs me to do more teaching. Use the methods and materials that you find work for you -- sometimes this means letting go of your ideal in exchange for what will actually get done! And that's ok.
I heard recently that there are 20,000 single parent homeschooling households right now. I was shocked. But even here in my rural area I have met two other single parent moms who manage to work and homeschool. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed I get through on Yankee grit alone - my natural stubbornness and my commitment to seeing this thing through are often called upon. And you know what else has carried me through the past 11 years? I love how my teens are turning out and who they've become thanks to our homeschooling lifestyle. We can do this!
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--JennyMaine, Mom to Catherine (17) and Sam (15) "The countenance is a reflection of the soul. You should always have a calm and serene countenance." -- Therese of Lisieux
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 25 2011 at 3:47pm | IP Logged
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Oh! I will *so* second/third/fourth/fifth the simplification!
The less STUFF there is to clean up, organize, find, lose, put away, step over, climb over, crawl through, dust, (you get the picture), the *better*!
As much as I do to purge every single Lent and Advent, this past Lent has been the greatest at showing actual progress (though I'm sure I've shoveled out more in previous Lents).
It is so great when you know that no matter how messy your house it, it could be spic-and-span for guests in less than half an hour (I said "for guests" meaning a lots gets shoveled into the master bedroom ) - but we are finally to the point where even shovelling means I still get through my room!
And my room is the workroom, storage for business supplies and inventory, AND the library. So when things aren't "simple" they are overwhelmingly impossible to get through.
Just my personal success story 
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: April 26 2011 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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guitarnan wrote:
I work from home as a freelance writer. I do it by never cleaning my house.
No, really, my house is a mess. Really. |
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I admit I'm a baby when it comes to housework. My older daughter has cleaned the house for years and is better at it. We cover her car insurance.
She also helps by cooking supper at least one night a week.
I am pretty diligent about picking up. Never go to bed with a littered living room floor.
CatholicMommy wrote:
| I work from home and am a single mom to boot. |
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I so admire you ladies.  I have three friends who are single and homeschool and their children are all incredible!
drmommy wrote:
It CAN be done!We keep our house very simple, and the activities simple (CCD, Girls' Club and piano), and the meals simple.
I do homeschool all year 'round, and take breaks if needed.
Bridget |
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Great advice!
Like CatholicMommy said, I will sixth the simplification code. 
Jenny Maine has some wonderful help-tips...especially the "stop running around" which is probably the crux of my most harried weeks. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: April 28 2011 at 8:41am | IP Logged
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I run a home daycare from home. I work 50 hours a week. We involve the kids. When the littlest needs me the older ones help out with the daycare. We do most of the schooling at naptime.
I'd love to not have to, but one does what one needs to do. There is a mortgage, bills and children to feed. A few more years we home the mortgage is paid, that will take a lot of pressure off ;)
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Any Moms who work part-time & HS?
