Working From Home

I worked for an electrical company for a full four years before having my first son and deciding to be a stay at home mom.  In the past 6 years, between 2 more babies, going stir crazy at home, and needing the money, I have gone back to work there full time three different times.  

The last time I quit I knew it was for good as it was ridiculous to what child care cost and the fact that I did not have enough energy to take care of my home and family during my after work hours. 

Over the years I have done projects from home for that same company.

  

Earlier this year, they contacted me about working consistently from my house and I jumped at the opportunity.  

What a dream come true.  I know so many moms, myself included, who are constantly looking for ways to earn extra income while staying at home to take care of their children.  For a year I opened up my home to care for other children and while that was a great income, it was exhausting and my house was being destroyed.  I cleaned homes for extra money when my oldest son was in Mothers Day Out and my younger son was just a baby.  That worked great until Nate became a toddler and it became more difficult for me to clean and it took much longer since he was getting into everything!

But, THIS I could do!  

Data Entry.  From my own home.  My own computer.  In my PJs.  I thought it was perfect!  

The first week into it, my little bubble popped.  It. Was. So. Hard.  

Not the actual work itself.  But the taking care of three kids all day long and keeping up with my daily household chores and still finding the time to work.  

During the summer, my boys would not take naps, and it took a WHOLE LOT to wear them out enough to sit still so I could work awhile.  

Then I had to make the decision during that quiet time to work or to clean/do laundry/mop/sweep/vacuum/etc.

Once the kids were in bed at night, I was so exhausted and when I just wanted to veg out and watch TV, I either had to work or catch up on the housework.  

I thought it would get easier when school started since Sean is in Kindergarten this year and Nathan attends a pre-k every morning for a few hours.  Once I pick up Nathan, we have lunch and then Lauren goes down for her nap and it's just me and Nathan.

And it's not easier.  

You would think for a mom of three that only having one child at a time would be a piece of cake, but not in my household!  My kids are lost without each other.  They do not know how to be an "only child"!  They demand my attention at all times and if I don't give it they are into everything they should not be into.  

From the time Lauren wakes up from her nap and Sean gets home from school at 3pm until dinner is the WORST time ever.  They are cranky and fighting and wanting to eat everything in the house.  I would think they would be happy to be all back together!  

So I am still having late nights of work and catching up on housework.  

Please don't get me wrong, I am still SO GRATEFUL for this opportunity to help my family's income.  I WILL stick with it and I know that it WILL get easier as the kids grow and I get us all on schedules.  (My biggest mistake is that I have not been consistent with schedules!)  It is just not as easy as I thought it would be!

Plus, you saw what my desk looks like in this post.  It's terrible!  I am not organized at all and I have SO MUCH stuff!  

My husband says that I should not be allowed to have any flat areas in the house because I always find something to stack on top of it.  I think he's right.  My plan is to save up this year for a laptop and get rid of my desk and only have the laptop and printer.  I have this little desk that I used for all my crafts that I think I will use as a laptop station:

Ha-and see I even have stuff stacked on top of that!

Do you work from home?  What do you do?  I could really use any tips and advice for getting the work done while still take care of my children and staying on top of my housework!