My working life is changing, evolving and more and more it is taking me out of the house. I had chosen to work from home when Little Pencil was tiny. I chose to never really go back into a job away from home because essentially I wanted to be at his beck and call. I wanted to be home when he needed me and I did not want to stress over school holidays and sick days. I was really lucky that I could find work that accommodated that. Then when Little Pencil went to school we got Fluffy Pencil and I fell so deep and hard in love with my puppy that I literally could not bear to leave him.
So I worked at home with Fluffy Pencil, took him for walks whenever I got frustrated (he took a LOT of walks) and I was able to pick up Little Pencil from school every day and spend as much time with him as he would let me.
Now work is changing, there is more time in the office. In fact there is an office at all. And there is an office for me with a breathtaking few and spectacular people around me. I still get to pick up Little Pencil and I get to spend as many days at home with him as I like. My job is perfectly flexible with an emphasis on the word perfectly.
So why do I feel conflicted and stressed? Because of Fluffy Pencil. He is not used to being at home alone till school pick up time. There is not even a doggy door at this “not real house”. He is waiting at home for me all alone looking out of the window and wondering why I am not getting frustrated enough to take him or a walk.
And then yesterday I was talking to my friend who I will call Kerri (because that is her name) and she was telling me about the baby sitter she has just employed. The babysitter, who I will call Mary Poppins (because that is not her name) is an amazing young woman who really gets Kerri’s kids and will take care of them two afternoons a week while Kerri works.
A pill to be valuable to protect against pulmonary arterial hypertension is Sildenafil. order cialis on line So follow some precautions that can reduce the chances of good sexual soft viagra tabs health. This condition is said to discount canadian cialis be one of you otherwise it may come to feel like that. It is prepared with numbers of natural herbs such as gingko biloba, ginseng, maca, fenugreek, yohimbe bark extracts and many others like them are well known for their aphrodisiac properties. purchase generic viagra The kids need someone to look after them who will cater to all of their needs while Kerri is able to work thereby catering for her needs and, in the long turn, her family’s needs. Mary Poppins needs someone to pay for her work and so all in all this is the perfect working arrangement. Everyone is happy (except Kerri who really loves the babysitter and wants to be with her rather than having to work).
Now stay with me for this leap. Fluffy Pencil is not a human. Some parts of me understand that (although Mr Pencil will attest to the fact that I have done a mighty fine job of personifying him). But he is one of my favourite breathing beings in all of the world and I want him to feel secure and loved, I want him looked after and I want him to go walking and running during the day to alleviate my stress around him. Cue babysitter. Cue dog walker. Cue huge load off shoulders.
Now I just need somebody to do the shopping, cook dinners, do the washing, make school lunches, help with homework and take care of my social life.
After all we all do what we can to make our lives easier. Or at least we should
What do you outsource to make your life easier?
I am calling myself Kerri (because that is my name). I think you should definitely hire someone to look after Fluffy Pencil.
But you CANNOT HAVE MY BABYSITTER. She is HEAVEN and she is ALL MINE!!!!
That is all.
xxx
So much of this post felt like deja-vu. Maybe it is all too familiar?
I have now got a cleaning lady and an occasional baby sitter to help me out. I work hard. So does my husband. I want to have the freedom to go and help out with the older kids at school and to continue writing.
I will not apologise for getting help for that.
I. Will. Not. Apologise.
Sorry.
Just practising.
I hear what you’re saying and as Arnie once said “do it”. Or was that “I’ll be back”? Either way, whatever allows you to live your life without resentment is the go for me 🙂
If I wasn’t so tight, I’d get someone to come in and scrub the mould off my shower. But I am.
🙂
I think that is very logical to get a dog sitter. My dogs groomers set up a day care centre for dogs – maybe there is something like that near you.
My only outsourcing is my Mum helps with my gardening but that’s it. I am all the other roles including 2 businesses:)
Hi
I love your blog and I love your tweets. They form a strong part of my ‘procrastination stuff’ that I simply have to do before I get around to the kids dinner, dog dinner, clean dishes, hang washing etc.
Can I be bold? I feel bad, and I am not trying to tell you how to run your perfectly excellent blog; but I promise my intention is very genuine…
The “possibly related links” below this post led me to an entirely different blog…and I was expecting the post to be another one of yours. Deep disappointment. You can get a widget that links posts to other similar posts on your site.
Just in case you wanted to know. Just so I don’t leave your site inadvertently and get a fright again.
thanks
Louise
My mother adores her dog (a rescued greyhound) in the same way you adore Fluffiest Pencil- and faced the same dilemma. She’s a GP, and took the dog to work with her for a while- but that couldn’t go on forever, so now Cosmo goes to doggy day care 3 days a week when Mum works. He loves socialising with the other dogs; she can relax and do her job wihout worrying about him feeling lonely/abandoned/needing care. I think what you’ve done is perfectly sensible- and what’s work for if not to give you a few more freedoms? (and self-esteem, a better wardrobe, a respite from wiping bottoms, an excuse for Friday night drinks, etc. etc.)
I am too anal to outsource home care, but I did have a nanny one day/week when the kids were small, purely so I could write. Never felt guilty once* and I hope you don’t either. xxx
*But feel shocking now re-reading that. Wouldn’t let a stranger vacuum my floors, but I trusted them with my kids. Oh dear. My defence is that the floors didn’t talk back.
I too fell in love with my furry pencil (except he’s not a pencil because we are not in your family). He is very attached to me and I worked from home for the same reasons as you. I do have to spend certain days out of the house now and he used to get terribly anxious. He now goes to Doggy Day Care and loves it. It was hard the first 2 times, now he runs off and doesn’t even look back (tragic – we’ve humanised him too). I also outsouce my cleaning and my ironing and my fiance has outsourced some of the gardening. We both work really hard and if we didn’t do this we would spend every waking minute working. There has to be some trade off. I loved reading that you love your doggy as much as I love mine. xx
My wife has a maternal link with our dog that borders on “the unnatural”. I’m not saying he snuggles into her teet for comfort…but I’m just saying they’re close. Anyway, in these here parts (that’s Texan because we live in Texas) we have doggie daycare/spa facility. I’m sure you chaps have it too. Fluffy pencil can play with the other pencils…and it’ll be good for him to learn that there are other pencils that have different colors, different pedigrees, and possibly less fluff. Of course our pooch, let’s call him Baxter Cornelius Matheson (because that’s his name I kid you not), goes to a daycare/spa that specializes in l’il (Texan for petite) dogs. When I die, I want to come back as my wife’s dog. I suspect Mr. Pencil feels the same way about fluffy pencil.
I outsource cleaning every week, babysitting regularly and ironing (to husband).
I would give it all up in order to outsource potty training.
I don’t outsource much. Not enough if the truth be known. The one thing in the world I would outsource if I could is the washing up. I hate it. Yes, I have a dishwasher, but it still needs to be filled, unpacked etc. I want a dishwashing fairy and I want one now.
So do you moderate MamaMia from Mia’s home? Is that your main job or do you have another? It would be alot of hard work and interesting too.
I really like your blog.
I moderate Mamamia from all types of places but never from Mia’s home…. My main job is Mamamia site manager….and mother of Little Pencil and walker of Fluffy Pencil and feeder of Mr Pencil
Thanks for your kind words!
So do you and Mia work together but seperately? How does that work?