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Double the work: Moms opt to handle laundry, kids and jobs in one single spot ? their own house.(Fresno Bee (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 14--It's the dream of many moms, particularly those with young children: If only they could work at home. With today's wireless communications, high-speed Internet at home and gas prices going through the roof, telecommuting has become all the more attractive. Cheryl Demas, publisher of the online magazine www.wahm.com, estimates that 20 million American women may be working out of their homes. Her Web site, which has offered advice, support and employment opportunities for work-at-home moms for a decade, now gets 8 million page views a month. Corporations that outsource jobs internationally have learned the joys of decentralizing operations. Technology has made it easier to keep an eye on employees, even from remote locations. "They know when they're logged in and getting their work done," Demas says. "They can see when they're goofing off, even when they don't have a boss standing over them." For moms, working at home with children underfoot is the best of both worlds -- and the worst. You get to raise your kids and watch them grow. Hugs are nice. When someone's sick, you're there to take care of them, and you don't necessarily have to stop working. On the other hand, the work is always there. Having flexibility during the day sometimes means working late at night. Laundry, dust and dishes can be distractions. But to hear work-at-home moms tell it, it's an arrangement worth clinging to with both arms. (Did we mention hugs are nice?) Three-ring act If Deanna Randall of Clovis ever decides one day to chuck it all and join the circus, she's got a bright future as a juggler. Talking on her cell phone as it rests in her right hand, one of her boys' toys in the other, the home phone ringing occasionally in the kitchen and e-mail stacking up in another room, Randall expands the meaning of the word "multitasking." As Randall, vice president of the local property-investment firm Golden State Financial Corp., resolves a work-related problem on the phone, her 5-year-old son, Jack, tosses his Scooby-Doo doll across the living room. Steven, 3, waves a plastic bat. Jack: "He's going to hit me." Steven: "I just want to hit Tigger." He means Scooby. But, you know, any old cartoon character in a pinch. When Jack picks up a plastic sword, Steven claims ownership. Then he loses interest and finds a toy microphone into which he begins singing. Jack heaves a plastic foam airplane across the living room over and over. "I'm sorry," their mother says into the phone. "I've got the boys this afternoon, and we've got an airplane stuck in a fake tree." She laughs, plucks the plane from a branch near the top, hands it back to Jack and continues the conversation without missing a beat. "I used to find myself apologizing," Randall says after ending the call. "Now I don't even notice [the boys]. You just do what you have to do. I'm sure it offends some people, but so be it." Randall has worked for Golden State for more than 20 years. She oversees the apartment complexes owned by the corporation, handles investor correspondence, makes sure budgets are met and directs staffing changes. A sitter watches the boys for about 15 hours a week, and Randall says she works another 10 or so before they wake up in the morning or after they go to bed at night. "It's one thing answering the telephone," she says. "But if it's something where I have to concentrate, I don't even try it [when the boys are around]. One problem is that I forget where I'm at, what I'm doing and where I left off. So I can't be afraid to say, 'Where were we?' Sometimes I get a call, and a couple minutes can turn into an hour or two on the phone." Like other work-at-home moms, she finds flexibility is both blessing and curse. Some days are longer than others. Her husband, Ernie, owns a landscaping business that often operates from dawn until dusk. "There's not a clear definition to the start and the end of the day," Randall says. "When I can't get things done during the day, I get them done when I can get them done." Leaving the house to go to work would have advantages. When the phone rings in the office, it's a business call. At home, it could be anybody calling. And housework is out of sight, out of mind. "When you go into an office, you don't see that your house is a mess," she says. "When you're home, you do. You feel like you have to take care of that stuff." But she's not complaining. Besides being around for hugs and discipline (the guest room has been renamed the "naughty room"), Randall and the boys schedule regular naps several times a week. "The kids and I will get milk and two books, go get in my bed, close the shades and take a nap," she says. "I used to think I'd try to get some work done while they were asleep, but I never do." Instead, they all snuggle and doze. "I don't think it necessarily makes me a better mom because of that. But one day I'm going to look back at this point, and it will have been the best time of my life." All about priorities When Marian Routh started running Elephant Boy Computers out of her Fresno home about six years ago, it was for "butter and egg money." She'd become fascinated by computers and wanted to earn enough so she wouldn't feel guilty about indulging in her newfound passion. A little more than a year later, her husband, Fran, died after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. "It went from something where I was making a little extra to, 'I need Elephant Boy,'" she says. "It turned out not to be a choice. We all have to work." Routh had worked office jobs but chose to stay home when her first son -- Gabriel, now 17 -- was born. "I didn't want someone else raising my child," she says. When James, now 13, was born four years later, she embraced motherhood, having dinner on the table every night and baking elaborate desserts and cookies. "All my bunnies had belly buttons," she says. "We had huge dinner parties. That all had to go. I can't do it all now." After her husband passed away, Routh wanted to remain at home for her sons and crossed her fingers that her business would keep them afloat. "I'm way too cranky to go back and work for someone else," she says, smiling. "I don't have a college degree. The only college experience I have is one year at art school. "I'm passionate about computers. You can always learn something new. I wanted to be able to work at the school and be there for my kids. I could be a good mom for my children." Working at home takes discipline. Routh rises at 4 a.m. to check e-mail and the latest news on the computer spyware and viruses that keep her business bustling, all before getting the boys off to school. "You have to be comfortable working by yourself," she says. "If you need coffee stuff, meeting with your co-workers in the break room, this is not going to work for you." There are tradeoffs. "You give up the money," she says. "You don't have benefits. I try not to work Sundays. But you work when you can." There are perks, too: "It keeps my overhead way down. I don't sell retail. I don't have inventory. I'm already paying for the house. If it's a tough month, the kids aren't going to starve." Routh says it naturally took a little time for the boys to understand that just because mom was home didn't mean she was all theirs. "If they would come running up to me, I'd say, 'Is someone bleeding? Unless something's exploding, unless something's on fire, or there's blood, let's prioritize,'" she says. "If there's blood, then yeah, I'm going to be running. Otherwise, no." Let's talk boundaries Laura Whitehouse is the voice of experience when it comes to being a work-at-home mom. Although the program manager of the National Parks Conservation Association has a Fresno office these days, she's regularly worked out of her home since her 13-year-old son, Adam Nitido, was born. Whitehouse has two other children, Aaron Nitido, 11, and Emilie Whitehouse, 5. "It's hard to work out of the house and juggle three kids," she says. "It can get a little tricky. You can't always schedule phone calls around nap time." Like other women who work from home, Whitehouse admits that housework can get in the way: "You start doing laundry and dishes, you look at the clock, and the first two hours of your day are shot." You're never away from your office. The kitchen table doubles as a conference table. People parade through the house for meetings. Without sufficient boundaries, burnout is a threat. "You need to change the scenery," she says. "When my husband [Scott, who works for produce broker Safco] comes home some days, I say: 'We're going out. There's no way I'm about to eat here in this house.'" Although she'd worked from home a couple of times before and enjoyed it, the last time was a challenge. She'd just been hired by the conservation association, which didn't yet have a local office or staff. "The amount of activities your children take part in escalates as they get older," she says. "I became the chief taxi driver. There seemed to be no boundaries. Everyone seemed to know I was home all day. … I was not getting all my work done during the day." Whitehouse finally laid down the law -- both with her boys, who were instructed not to interrupt their mother's phone calls unless there was bloodshed, and other family members and neighborhood moms, who sometimes called during the day just to chat. Despite the hassles, Whitehouse cherishes the time spent working with her children nearby: "I wouldn't trade it in for a minute." Her advice for work-at-home moms? "Take time off to have your babies," says Whitehouse, who rushed back to work within days of having hers. "It sounds crazy, but people will call you. I wish I'd taken more time. "A kid is more important than any job. You have to let [work] go to voice mail sometimes. Whether it's lunch, a picture they've drawn or some kind of drama or trauma, focus on your children for that moment. You can call back. People can wait a few minutes. Give that moment the time it deserves." Few families can afford to have only one income. If you can't be a stay-at-home mom, she says, being a work-at-home mom is the next-best thing. "The time you have with your children is so short as it is," Whitehouse says. "They grow so fast. If you can spend more time with them, it'll be the best adventure you ever had." The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559) 441-6322. |