Ever heard of the saying, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it! Well, I am a living testimony of this!
Before COVID-19 happened to the world, I would commute for two hours on a good day to my place of employment and always thought to myself, I can do this from home. Many times, I just wanted to have the freedom to choose where I wanted to work from, Java(My favourite Coffee Shop) or the comfort of my home! Then, COVID-19 happened and one Friday, I packed to go home and not to return till today, my favourite coffee shop was now a takeaway joint and the comfort of my home was the only place left to work from!
Working a full-time job from home was now a norm and the realities of being a mother in the 21st century started dawning in! Here I am Monday morning, my son is home from school unsure of when he is going back, and my husband just heard that the airports were closed meaning no business and now we are home as a family.
Yes, we have been home as a family, but it was never like this. We had our lives, my husband in his travel business, my son in school, and I, in the entertainment industry interviewing the who’s who! and in the blink of an eye I am doing the cooking, cleaning and entertaining.
Leaving the house was on schedule and we had to live together, learn who we really are and a big part of me was loving it. I was, for the first time able to be home with my son. Like many, we believed this was going to last for a few months, three months tops and we would be back to normal!
It is Christmas, the reality of our new normal has set in and we were forced to explain to our son why we can’t go to the coast for his seventh birthday or why a big birthday party was out of the question.
We ushered in the new year and after 9 months our son went back to school. Boy! had he grown! We had to get new sets of uniform and even shoes. I was glad that some sense of normalcy had been restored for both my son and husband and now it was time for me to find my new normal.
After a week off work, it was time for me to set up my new workspace, I was in the house all by myself for about 6 hours, the house was as clean as I had left it and there I was, working from home, cooking all the meals, cleaning and basically, I was now a work from home mum.
What are my lessons you may ask?
- Having a dedicated workspace is one of the most important things you could do for yourself as a work from home mom.
- Finding a work-life balance is the most important thing you could do for your family.
- Going out for some sun every day helps your productivity!
I am still learning how to balance it all, some days are easy and some, no amount of coffee would salvage the day.
I am still trying to find my new normal. It is not easy, but, I got what I wanted, not how I wanted but what I wanted! I now work from home.
