Hi, A. -
I work from home as a web application programmer, and it's been a real blessing. My husband and I have been running our own small consulting business for the past 6 years, and business is booming. However, it does take a huge toll. My "office" is the living room couch, so it's often difficult for those around me to remember that I'm working. Thankfully, I'm very good at tuning things out, so that enables me to still be nearby my people while working vs. isolating myself in an office.
My husband and I essentially trade off on caring for our daughter and have a couple of hours where we are both "off the clock" - dinnner time to our daughter's bed time, usually. Thereafter, we both go back to work, from home.
As for our house - we have 5 cats and 2 dogs, plus our 3 year old. Decently organized it IS, and decently tidy, too. CLEAN it is not. I am the cleaner of the family, and working full time plus parenting plus animal care and volunteering and all the other stuff we do leaves little time to keep things spick and span. I'd LOVE a continuously tidy house, but, to me, it's not of primary significance, in the grand scheme. There's nothing that I would want to give up just to provide more time to do the same cleaning task day after day.
What I'd advise for you is this: Give the opportunity a try, but keep your priorities in line. If this job is cutting into your time and your balance without the requisite benefit to your LIFE, then you should quit it. One thing that I'd suggest is to set your employer's expectations at a manageable level - say you're available 20 hours a week, not 30 or 40. That will mean 4 5-hour days or 5 4-hour days, leaving your weekends free. You HAVE to have time for JUST yourself and your family without work intruding, and if you are working so much that you can't keep your home up to your desired standard, then that is going to start festering.
Also, if you are a person who needs a separate space in the home to focus yourself, then that would be a good thing to prepare before the pressures start building... and having a good number of webcams or baby monitors set up, for those times when you won't have the benefit of a husband's help or other care providers, can make for some decent auditory supervision of your kids, in a pinch. You might also consider working in the later afternoons, when the older kids in your neighborhood are off of school so that they could serve as babysitters/playmates a couple times a week.
It's definitely a difficult balance, and I am almost always overly tired. I comfort myself and feel inspired by the thought that I am still able to be with my daughter, stay at home, AND provide an income for us to bank for her future. Being self-employed is always tenuous, so I feel that this is "making hay while the sun shines," especially important in this weird economy.
I hope these suggestions help!
H.
