Balancing Work and Childcare: The Myth of Working from Home with Kids

Why do people think that if you work from home, you can also just watch your kids full time? This is so wild to me as somebody who works from home full time and also has four kids who are in Childcare I pay a lot of money for daycare and people are always asking me Why are you doing that if you work from home? Can’t you just do both and no I cannot do both It is nearly impossible to be both a good employee and a good parent at the same time. It is so Mentally draining today. I had my daughters with me because their daycare is closed for three days and i’m taking half days at work So i’m using pto and then I am working but I was trying to get some work done this morning while they were playing And it was impossible. They said my name a thousand times I took a phone call and they literally interrupted every single sentence that I had come out of my mouth. It is not Possible to work and do a good job while also watching your toddlers and people will often say well if you are doing it Then just put them in front of a screen But I don’t want to be doing that to my kids I would much prefer that they be in an environment where they’re learning growing and socializing Than sitting in front of a screen while I sit here in front of my screen It’s such a frustrating suggestion too because oftentimes people say this when I bring up how expensive daycare is i’ll say things like hey We spend 60 000 a year on daycare and people will say well just keep them home with you when you work But if you can’t bring your kid with you to the office when you work Why do you think I can have my kid here? I am doing the exact same work here at my desk that other people do at their cubicles and you don’t see kids running Around an office so stop assuming that somebody who works from home can have their kids with them It is nearly impossible and also companies frown upon this they will make you sign something that says you won’t do this So it’s not even an option I just It’s crazy to me because this is something that people say to women most of the time not even to men They assume that if a woman is working from home, then she might as well also be providing full-time child care She should do two jobs because why not right? Why wouldn’t we expect her to do that? But if you are a person who has small children You know how hard it is to get anything done while your kids are with you And so assuming that anyone can work full-time from home while also taking kids like care of kids is just Mind-boggling if you don’t bring your kids to work with you when you work in an office Then do not assume that somebody who works from home can do so while also taking care of their kids