Get Off Your Phone :: A Confession from the Work at Home Mom

I know you see us. The moms at the playground, pushing our swinging tot with one hand, phone in the other. There is at least ONE of us around. At the zoo, the park, or the Chick-fil-A play area … there is always one or two of “us” in your presence. I’m almost positive someone has mumbled under their breath that we should be off our phones and enjoying these moments with our littles. And I couldn’t agree more.

I just so happen to be that EXACT mom…

I am the mom rushing kids out the door in the morning, answering a client’s message about our session in an hour. I zone out in the middle of my teenager telling me about practice (because I’m thinking of a response to an email that has me sounding like a normal, functioning human being and not like a crazy that attempted to work with fighting toddlers in the back seat). I am the mom scheduling work during a workout and invoicing in the carpool line. I am THAT mom, 100%. 

Do I love it? No. I deal with it. 

I just so happened to have hustled my way to a job that I love, one that allows me to work from home. One that at times, has me dreaming of an office job where I could dedicate set hours to work and the rest for family. There are times that I feel the guilt of having to be glued to my phone and work all while at a playdate with friends.

My confession? There is a different side to what you see. Not all of us with a phone in our hand are putting texts or social media ahead of our kids … some of us are merely trying to survive. We work from home to be able to squeeze in picnics or trips to the zoo. We carry a looming guilt for hearing “Mom. Mom. Mamma…MOM, listen to me!” more than we like to admit. It’s a balancing act like no other and at most times, it calls for a phone in our hands. We don’t necessarily LOVE it … but we deal with it.

So next time you see one of “us” around, just know that it’s just another mom, just like yourself, trying to balance this whole thing out …with work in the form of an iPhone attached to her hand.