Working mom and sahm at the same time?? Help please!

knottie252770a837287e50

Tips on working with an infant

I’m currently 24 weeks pregnant and I work as the office manager for my family (parents) business. For backstory, I used to be a teacher and always planned on being a sahm. However I now work for my family business as the office manager so me leaving them high and dry just isn’t an option. I took over my mom’s role and she basically just doesn’t want to work anymore, understandably. I do not want to put him in daycare, that was my reason for wanting to be a sahm to begin with, and we don’t have anyone in either of our families that would provide childcare for us nor would we want them to. I really want to raise him myself so therefore I’m going to try and do everything I can to navigate both.

My plan is to work from home as much as possible and bring him when I do have to go in to the office. I do not know exactly how many hours I will have to be in person in the office, I’m hoping as little as possible. But I already know the other girl in the office has her vacation planned 5 weeks after I give birth so I know I’m going to have to be there when she is gone. My dad has also said he just doesn’t see wfh as an option during our busy times. It’s frustrating because my parents have known since long before I worked for them that I wanted to be a sahm when my time came. But still feel like I can’t just leave them hanging and I am well paid. Does anyone have any sort of similar experience that can share any tips, sample schedule, etc? I truly don’t know how I’m going to do it but I need to at least try.

*edited to add as I feel the type of work I do is important - I handle most of our accounting, payroll etc all which can easily be done from home in between naps, even weekends whenever I can fit it in. My main concern is when I have to go into the office, there will be a lot of customers phoning in, scheduling, etc all of which has to be during normal business hours. I’m having trouble seeing the logistics of the in office days, like when do I wake up and eat breakfast, when do I get ready, exercise, make lunch, do housework, drive to and from work, get home and make dinner and fit an out of home work day into that? This is both me venting/crying for help and asking for practical advice/opinions etc

knottie1ff1fc065256bdcc

I totally understand your situation—balancing work, family, and your desire to be a SAHM can be really tough. I’m in a similar boat, and what’s helped me is creating a flexible schedule. For example, I try to work in shorter, focused bursts when my child is napping or occupied with quiet activities. I also found ceufast to be a great resource for taking care of professional development or certifications online while managing home life, as they offer flexible, online courses. It’s all about finding those little pockets of time when you can work without compromising your desire to raise your child.