You know you're self-employed when.....

[MellowMarshmallow]

You've been up since 3.30am with two dcs with d&v bugs, but decide to crack on with a bit of work as dc being home from school will make hitting the deadlines tricky...even though all you want to do is frantically clean the house then curl up and sleep for hours.

[kernowal]

...your child "plays" at doing your job, because it's all they ever see you doing.

...there's a collective sigh as you take another work-related phone call on holiday.

....when you explain to a client that you are on holiday and haven't got the piece of paper they're referring to with you.

...you buy a ten minute timer to keep on your desk, so you know when "in a minute" has stretched a little bit too far.

[CommsWhizz]

...a night off starts at 9.30pm when you've 'just finished that one little job'.
... and finishes at 10pm as you can't keep your eyes open.
... you calculate the tax you'll be paying rather than the profit you'll be earning when you agree to take on some more work.
... instead of grabbing a magazine and a mug of tea when you get a spare few minutes, you turn on the laptop to get a headstart.

[freelancenewbie]

...when DH (very kindly) offered to take DC out on the weekend to give me a break after an incredibly busy week and I spend that time .....reading my business books & updating my business plan ...similar to discovering the excellent combination of pushing pushchair whilst listening to downloaded business podcasts!

When it suddenly dawned on me that the pile of receipts etc stuffed in that box will not ever get sorted out by 'accounts upstairs' or 'admin on 3rd floor' but actually EVERYTHING is down to me ... and me alone

When I realised there's another whole host of issues to think about in addition to actually doing the work ...i.e. no holiday pay (umm, make that no holiday full stop!), lack of pension & all the other benefits etc.

[freelancenewbie]

P.s. Mellow - hope you're feeling better. It's so so hard to keep going with it all when you've got such a horrible sickness bug. Hope you're recovering well. Great thread BTW, enjoying it.

[WilsonFrickett]

• When you say to DS 'in two seconds' for the fourth time and he sighs and says 'One, Two. That's two seconds. Now please can you tuck me in/make the dinner/let me have a go on the computer.'

• When DH says 'do you want to do X at the weekend' and you say 'yes, sounds brilliant.' Then five seconds later you say 'oh, actually, I have something on...' HIM: 'just a wee job?' Me: Nod miserably it's two days worth

[BeckyBendyLegs]

Oh my youngest, DS3, is always 'playing laptop like mummy' and the phone rings he asks me if it is 'the lady in the laptop'.

I am so guilty of the 'in two seconds' excuse to DS3. He's getting very good at the eye rolling and sighing!

[BeckyBendyLegs]

Oh I had a sickness bug on Saturday and DH had to practically force me to stay in bed and watch Little House on the Prairie DVDs. I just kept thinking 'I have loads of work to do'.

[MellowMarshmallow]

I missed all the replies in d&v hell. dc fine now. I've not had it yet. and only a bit behind. luckily client also off work sick which has given me some breathing space. loved the replies.

[BeckyBendyLegs]

Oh no D&V hell is not nice. Hope you stay bug free.

Day Two of half term and I am struggling with the usual work plus children-off-school-and-bored mania that is this house at the moment. We all went out for the day yesterday so trying to get work done today but children are not happy with my 'lets just stay at home and play' idea for today. Parental guilt for not being completely available during holidays time :(

[homeworkerwithkids]

you know you're self employed when having a conversation with the cat while the kids are at school seems completely normal, especially when they answer back!

[TalkinPeace]

when, after 16 years, you know that you are truly unemployable if you ever wanted to go back to work for somebody else

but hey, they do not get August off like I do

[AlpacaLypse]

When you realise you don't have to put up with all the shite that the client from hell is giving you, and simply terminate their contract!

Yes, the income dropped for a while... but new clients came along soon enough, and it was worth it not to have to put up with her utter prima donna nastiness any more.

[ProfondoRosso]

From the mouth of my self-employed dad:

When you can't hide the fact that you ate all the biscuits from your wife, because she knows you're the only one in the house all day

[ListenToTheLady]

When you look forward to finally getting the kids to sleep so you can.... just fit in a bit more work.

When school assumes that because you turn up for 3.15pm pick-up, you don't in fact work and are permanently on call

When you can take time off with a sick child without having to explain yourself – BUT every day you do means even more of a backlog, because no one else is going to cover for you.

When you can shout "wanker!" at the latest email from your twat of a client without anyone knowing - and yes, secretly feel smug that all you have to do to get rid of them is be "too busy" from now on - and they will never know. (I last worked in an office 18 years ago - and yet I still get enjoyment from knowing I don't have to endure crap from anyone)