Older relatives not understanding WFH...

Don't you ever take time off work? I know it's harder to do when self employed but, ime, it's really important to give yourself those days off and the rest of the family will appreciate it too.

Unfortunately they do walk among us. It's scary.

I noticed this a while ago. I am guessing she is winding us all up because surely no one could be that lacking in social awareness, emotional intelligence and critical thinking. Surely??

Yes it’s only proper work if you’re literally digging coal out of a rock face with your bare hands, waist deep in icy water.

Anything else is just laziness. What are law and finance anyway, just time wasting.

What are you even talking about? You do talk a fair amount of nonsense, don't you? I've noticed that on several threads now.

Don't you ever take time off work? I know it's harder to do when self employed but, ime, it's really important to give yourself those days off and the rest of the family will appreciate it too.

I'm self employed and mostly wfh. I have run my business for 15 years and thought my parents understood that I work very hard and quite long, albeit often fairly flexible, hours. That is, until I overheard my mum telling some distant relatives at a wedding who asked what I do for a living that I "don't work" 🙄... which really stung.

I am in my 50’s and have WFH since 2009.
8 of those I lived with my dad who I also became carer for.
My job was no set hours, and my dad would silently pop cups of tea into me and give me the thumbs up.
Sandwiches would appear by magic.
And when I needed a break I would go and sit in his lounge and we’d watch Friends together.
He was very proud of my work as I had been very ill and had to give up my previous career.
He understood and he was in his 80’s! He didn’t know one end of a laptop from another, but it’s not bloody rocket science.
For a long time I worked in social media (it was like the Wild West years I loved it!) and he did tell people I ‘worked on the Tweet with the celebrities’ which I loved as well.
I did get to go events now and again and took him as my plus one. Because I worked in celeb land, he memorised who they all were and he was such good fun. He especially loved the goodie bags and would share them with his beloved cleaner.
I digress. Anyone who doesn’t get it is using it as an excuse - they just want to dominate you and use your time.

Working from home isn't the same as proper work. So I'm with your relatives.

In my experience it is people who havent had an office job who don't understand WFH. Like the cleaner who doesn't get why she can't just try to change the day or time she attends every other week (I had to fire this particular cleaner after the wanted to start late because it was her adult sons birthday. He turned 26. Final straw). Or the builders doing work to the outside of my leasehold property but demanding to be let into my apartment to access the balcony without notice. Just because they saw im home.

People without office jobs just can't imagine what it's like.

Yeah and same for me but I can understand why it is difficult to understand for older people

I think my parents are me nipping out sometimes for school events, I have a regular exercise class that I use my lunch break for once a week etc and think how can she not have time to pick up the phone?

And the answer is of course that I can plan my week around specific commitments but am not able to drop everything at any time but if you haven't worked like that, it's hard to understand

I can see both sides of this.

Firstly I work in an actual office, but my parents ring me on the landline (i.e. not a phone I have with me) at say, 11am and are constantly surprised that I am not in. Likewise, they don't understand why I can't come and see them for the whole of school holidays. So I think some people just don't understand the concept of working.

Secondly, there are plenty of people who wfh who do pop out to do the shopping, meet a friend for coffee, go out and play golf, pick up their children from school, run random errands for family members etc (everything in that list is something that I know of multiple wfh people doing). And MN is full of threads of people saying how flexible wfh is and you can do so much round your job. So it's no wonder that people assume that everyone with a wfh job is like that and is available when needed.

Working from home isn't the same as proper work. So I'm with your relatives.

You have my sympathy OP.
DH and I both WFH. Our friends know this. Yet still regularly turn up, without warning, on weekdays during working hours. And then I might get a comment that I seem a bit stressed. D'you think that might have something to do with having a deadline you're effing up? Kicked a friend out last week because I had a client call about to start and he was quite prepared to sit there and listen.
SILs have announced that they're coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks in the summer, hasn't even occurred to them to ask if I'll be working/able to take time off.

Yes it’s only proper work if you’re literally digging coal out of a rock face with your bare hands, waist deep in icy water.

Anything else is just laziness. What are law and finance anyway, just time wasting.

Just don’t answer the phone!

In my experience a very generational thing
I'm a freelancer and work from home, I rent out a second home
Still have parents (mostly mum) asking why I don't have a job (or a 'real' job or a 'proper' job)
Also (mostly dad) asking why I don't sell the other house; they don't understand that it generates income
Mum also (like other posters) rings at random times during the day and gets very miffed when I say I'm working "But you're at home, not at work" is a common response from her

Working from home isn't the same as proper work. So I'm with your relatives.