I’ve been a work at home dad ever since my first born arrived on the scene. He turned seven this month. Being a father in the home all the time brings with it loads of wonderful opportunities and some heartache and annoyances too. I wouldn’t change it for the world though.
Why Am I A Work At Home Dad?
I’m self employed. I have been for just over eight years. I was made redundant which in hindsight was the best thing to ever happen. No more horrible commute taking up over 2 hours of the day, every day. No more nightmare boss making daily employed life hell. Corporate bullsh*t vanished, annoying colleagues and managers gone, a life of careless working to life disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Facing redundancy was pretty tricky actually, more so for my wife than I. I think I’d seen it coming for a number of months as I’d been transferred into a new department without me knowing, only finding out when the email went out and my new boss was a uppity bitch, for want of a better word.
The pathetic meetings she called me into and threatened HR discipline for no good reason were beyond a joke. When the redundancy came up, the MD even asked me why I didn’t apply for another role which was being advertised elsewhere in the company. I think the look on my face said it all. I took the pretty poor payout of money and ran. I’d been doing a bit of freelance on the side and had already mentioned to a colleague that this was the future.
Working with small businesses and start ups who perhaps didn’t have the capital to employ someone full time, just for a couple of hours a week. A few hours here from one client and a handful there from another would add up to a decent chunk of work that you could live on.
Consider the £2000+ a year to travel into work as well as that time, we could afford to live on less and would have more time to get work done as well. I said I’d give it six months because if it didn’t look like it was going to work in that time I’d need to get another job. Hard work and late nights paid off and the clients came. The rest is history.
How do you stay physically & mentally fit when working from home?
What Are The Hard Parts?
The kids then came along. One first, then we moved house before the next and last year we had a third. The hardest thing with number one was the fact I was trying to get a business off the ground. Working from a makeshift desk in the hallway in the space under the stairs and also adapt to being a dad. No paternity leave for the self employed work at home dad meant I was back at work the day after Mum and baby came home.
Fortunately I was there for the key moments when they grow up. I could see the first roll! The beginning steps to full walking. The smiles at the baby gate even when I was in the middle of writing emails. See him in the funky Little Bird outfits we’ve chosen together. That was the hardest part, not being 100% present. Always having work at the back of the mind, always something else to do. But as much as that was a hard part, it wouldn’t be a hard part if I wasn’t in that position.
One of the other hardest parts of being a work at home dad is when someone is ill. Either me so I cannot do my work, or one of the kids when we then have to switch up our routines. Taking them to appointments, like Auris Ear Care for ear infections or to the dentist for check ups can also be difficult, but necessary.
What Are The Good Times?
As a work at home dad I was able to see those moments. I was able to take morning off an go to a baby group or class. I was able to shift work around. It was my work to do and as long as it got done it didn’t really matter. I’ll forever be grateful that I was able to see my children grow up. Have a day out with the kids when I want & catch up on work in the evening. Even when they’re banging on the door when I’m on a video call. When I’m distracted by the ping of an email I was waiting for. They have more of me and I have more of them.
Being able to take them to school, collect them. Take them to after school activities like cricket or swimming. Take Christmas holidays because I’ve worked ahead for a month of evenings in order to see their excited festive faces. Those are the reason I love being a work at home dad. Being a work at home day helps me do my work. Yes they might bother me when I’m in the middle of something but I get to see what I’m working for. Not just working to make money for a corporate suit. I’m a work at home dad, working to build and support my family, who I see every day.
