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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that "The Years Of Stolen Sleep" blogpost is ridiculous

31 replies

Happy36 · 06/08/2014 23:52

Of course it´s not possible to work from home if you have a baby there.

Like people who don´t work from home (and many who do) you have to arrange childcare if you´re going to work!

I´m not really sure what the point of the blogpost is. Are readers supposed to be surprised that little babies need attention??

OP posts:

Lally112 · 07/08/2014 00:03

I'm not sure what you mean? surely it depends on what you do from home, for example - I could take my babies to work with me from sort of home (across the road in a field) by putting them in their pram, leaving their pram in an empty stable as I got on with mucking out the one beside it and moving along in a line etc.

So long as I'm not driving on a public highway I could drive the tractor with baby in a sling to get the bales done or the paddock scraped etc. I could leave them in the truck in their car seats when I went to check the cows or move the sheep and again leave them in their prams when I was doing the kennels.

If they needed attention I was able to stop what I was doing for the most part and give them it. This wouldn't be feasible in every career but not all of us are in the same boat.

DoJo · 07/08/2014 00:10

It is possible to work from home (in a limited manner) with small children around, but personally I have found that it's not something that you should rely on being able to do unless you have a back up plan. I was a bit surprised that she wasted her time writing a fairly unremarkable blog post when she was claiming to be trying to work - it suggested that 'working' was an optional event, whereas for those of us who need to work around their children (and, as I said, very occasionally with our children).

I had a feeling I was going to reach this conclusion when her opening paragraph was about whether to have a glass of wine or to work - for those of us who need to earn a living working from home when our kids are in bed, this is not a dilemma which occurs very often as the need to work trumps the desire to drink wine and post about getting your parents to look after your kids so that you can make up the time you spent drinking and writing a blog post instead.

DoJo · 07/08/2014 00:12

whoops - meant to finish that second paragraph with 'it is a necessity, not a choice'. And I don't even have the excuse of a toddler distracting me!

TheTerribleBaroness · 07/08/2014 00:16

I've not read the blogpost in question but I love DoJo's comments on it. And I'm pretty sure I'd agree if I did read it.

Laquitar · 07/08/2014 00:22

YY @ what DoJo said.

I dont usually like the over-use of 'middle class' term here but the first thing that came to my mind was 'middle class crap'.

grocklebox · 07/08/2014 00:27

Of course its possible to work from home with a baby there. Many things outside YOUR own experience are possible

DogCalledRudis · 07/08/2014 00:27

Working from home takes a great amount of self-discipline for whole family. Not everybody is capable of that.

RainbowB7 · 07/08/2014 00:47

The most baffling thing about that is that she is apparently a writer

Blog post was so boring and badly written that I couldn't even be bothered to plod through it all

HappySeaTurtles · 07/08/2014 02:04

You're joking right? I work from home while watching baby DD all the time. I have a play area for her right next to my computer. I just can't take scheduled phone calls because she's a chatterbox. I communicate mostly by email anyway.

When things need to get done, I have DH watch her while I work late at night and then do emails during the day. Sometimes I can manage to work in the day though.

But no, I can't do long uninterrupted work either. It's broken into chunks.

BOFster · 07/08/2014 02:18

I agree with the substance of your post, but I think it might be more, um, decent to make your point on her blog or the promotional thread about it. This feels a bit like slagging off someone behind their back.

OneCabbageTree · 07/08/2014 02:36

I think it depends on the work in question. I'm a blogger too, and can do that with my baby around because - at the end of the day - it's a hobby and any money I make is a bonus. I'm not accountable to anyone apart from myself. I can also do work like Happy mentions above, emails and the like, and have done so in the past.

But - I can't do work that requires a lot of attention or has complex issues to get my head around, or not do it well at any rate. In those situations I'd much rather be away from my baby as the way I see it, even trying isn't fair on either of us when there are any alternatives - it's not fair on her as she's getting ignored, and not fair on me as I'm not doing good work. And in those cases, I certainly won't be opening the wine

OutragedFromLeeds · 07/08/2014 02:56

You can work from home with a baby, it's not impossible. It depends on your job, your baby, your partner etc.

If you have a baby who is good at entertaining themselves and has a good nap during the day, you can get 4-5 hours done during daytime hours. I don't think it would be fair to the baby if it was a full time arrangement though. Fine if you only work a few days a week or if your normal childcare is unavailable for a couple of weeks though.

deakymom · 07/08/2014 18:54

well you can sell on facebook fairly easily but i cant see how you can do much else i can hardly do this without being distracted by my boys i tend to either say what im typing or type what im saying which doesn't always make sense! (like the time i typed kill him i was saying dont do that you will kill him irl and typing something supportive really was an empathy failure)

Thenapoleonofcrime · 07/08/2014 19:14

No, I couldn't do my job for the required amount of hours a day and do childcare, even though I can flexible work. I need to be able to think and write in sustained chunks for hours on end- and when I do, I don't do housework, babycare, anything. I did 1-2 hours pootering/emails/filing stuff/writing easy stuff a day, proper writing not so much.

This differ between people though, some can work late at night, some have more stamina than others, are younger, have different tasks that you can take a baby/toddler with you. Some people are really amazing in what they can achieve, I know I can't stay up late and work, though as I am car-crash tired the next day and then that day's work is ruined.

I was always too tired to work properly when mine were little. Now they are older, I work with them kicking about the house.

WandaBenjamin · 07/08/2014 19:24

Can anyone post a link to this please?

FloozeyLoozey · 07/08/2014 19:59

I know it was meant to be humorous, but what a moaner and a martyr. Bloody hell! Get childcare or shut up woman!

CarmineRose1978 · 07/08/2014 20:38

Where I work, we have to provide evidence that we have childcare before we can work from home.... I suppose a self-reliant 3-year-old could play while you worked at the computer, but I'm not sure I could give my all to my job while caring for a baby. But I haven't actually got kids yet (5 months pregnant!) so what do I know!?

handcream · 07/08/2014 20:55

I work for a large company that has promoted home working. There were a number of selfish people who spoiled it for the rest by trying to save cc costs and have their young children at home. We are all required to have various conference calls throughout the day, these people were often never available, or if you caught them unawares there was screaming in the background and you could tell they weren't listening to you.

This has resulted in us having to state that child care was in place before home working was allowed. No issue for me but my did they complain.

MrsWinnibago · 07/08/2014 20:57

I've worked from home for the last 7 years since my oldest DD was three.

I had DD2, came home from my c section and went right back to work, rocking her cradle with my foot. Yes I had to stop to feed her etc but I did it.

I am far more productive now they're both at school but you're wrong about "can't work from home with children." Loads of people do.

MrsWinnibago · 07/08/2014 20:58

And all this "Get childcare!" nonsense.

Not everyone can AFFORD it!

If I got childcare I'd have no money. I suppose it might be better if I were on benefits!??

AggressiveBunting · 07/08/2014 21:01

This is why they cal it "shirking from home"

handcream · 07/08/2014 21:10

Would you bring your children into the office? No I didn't think so, why if you have a role that involves being available for clients during the working day and being expected to be on the phone a lot is it acceptable to bleat you cannot afford childcare.

SeagullsAndSand · 07/08/2014 21:15

My inlaws both work from home,oldest 10 and have never used childcare(both on good wages). Tbh I don't know how they get away with it.If I was one of the suckers stuck in the office I'd be mighty pissed of.

They keep moaning about how stressful the hols are err get some childcare then or a sahp. Everybody else has to choose either option and suck up the financial fallout.

SeagullsAndSand · 07/08/2014 21:16

Off

handcream · 07/08/2014 21:24

Seagulls - everyone knows the people who do this! They expect others to take up the slack because they have decided they don't want to pay for childcare. A supermarket worker doesn't take her children to work, neither does the CEO of a large company.

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