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What is the REAL impact of your home-based business on your kids?
OK Girlfriends, I feel MORE than qualified to talk on this subject! As a child I was raised by two parents that worked an Insurance Company from our home. Then after one year of marriage, Scott & I also chose the freedom of a Home-Base Business Model. So we then raised our two children with that same concept, Mom & Dad working from HOME!
With more time at home, the assumption is that kids naturally benefit, right? Maybe. It depends on the parent. If you create balance, working from home can have a positive impact on your kids- emotionally, mentally and financially. Without that balance, it’s also possible for a work-from-home arrangement to become a frustrating experience for both you and your family.
As a child I know I had moments when I wondered if I was as important to Dad as his work! Sometimes it felt like a home where his work took over our personal life! His clients would call day or night and potentially interrupt any family time. That was back before answering machines, so every phone call had to be answered. Sometimes clients would just show up at our front door, without even calling for an appointment! Mom was always the perfect hostess, but my brothers and I would sometimes feel like it was a "Martian Invasion" (tee-hee)!
*The good news is that YOU hold the KEY to your work-from-home success! The KEY is to set clear “BOUNDARIES” between work time and family time. This KEY allows the entire family to see you follow through with promises to spend time with them, once your business task is completed.
As a child I know I had moments when I wondered if I was as important to Dad as his work! Sometimes it felt like a home where his work took over our personal life! His clients would call day or night and potentially interrupt any family time. That was back before answering machines, so every phone call had to be answered. Sometimes clients would just show up at our front door, without even calling for an appointment! Mom was always the perfect hostess, but my brothers and I would sometimes feel like it was a "Martian Invasion" (tee-hee)!
*The good news is that YOU hold the KEY to your work-from-home success! The KEY is to set clear “BOUNDARIES” between work time and family time. This KEY allows the entire family to see you follow through with promises to spend time with them, once your business task is completed.
POSITIVE BOUNDARY TIPS:1) Make a work schedule as if you were going to a regular job. Have “hours,” just as you would if you had a regular job.
2) Leave work at work and say to yourself, “I’m home now.” Don’t sneak another peak at your e-mail and don’t rush to answer a phone, that’s what answer machines are for! If it’s really important, you can always get back to that person later!
3) Talk to your kids about why you chose to do it and what the benefits are. This may inspire and guide them as they make choices in the future about their own careers.
2) Leave work at work and say to yourself, “I’m home now.” Don’t sneak another peak at your e-mail and don’t rush to answer a phone, that’s what answer machines are for! If it’s really important, you can always get back to that person later!
3) Talk to your kids about why you chose to do it and what the benefits are. This may inspire and guide them as they make choices in the future about their own careers.
My parents were happier having something that was theirs, being their own boss! Even as a kid, I would rush into Dad’s office after school. I loved sitting beside him when I was doing my homework. Afterwards he would let me play on his type writer, create letters on his office stationary and make my very own business cards from colored construction paper. I was really proud of “Harrington Insurance.” Because of my parents home-based business, I always knew I’d rather work for myself than work for someone else.
They taught me to take a leap of faith to pursue my dreams! Be willing to have a little bit of risk-taking mentality and you can have what you want. They taught me that “anything is possible” and life can be different.
It doesn’t have to be a 9-to-5 job if that’s not what you want.
So I say to all you girlfriends, “Celebrate the flexibility and freedom that you have as a home-based entrepreneur! Just stay Focused, Believe, Set Boundaries on your time and remember – YOUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING!”
>>>TAKING ACTION>>>“Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” (James 1:22)Choose at least one action you can take to better set Boundaries on your time, so both you and your Family know what's expected!
Write it down, commit to it, and start today!
4 comments:
It is nice to be your own boss! :)
I live in both worlds. I have my own business that I operate just part-time training horses for now due to moving so much. But I also work fulltime in Law Enforcement/Corrections. Both are a passion of mine and I love boty my jobs. Actually, they don't feel like a job at all!!
Pam, thank you so much for this gentle and precious reminder that my home-based business can be a huge blessing to my family! Some days seem hard!
Please continue to pray for myself and my family as we walk this journey. May the Lord continue to bring you words to help guide me.
I know the Lord is faithful and is using your blog to strengthen me.
I so appreciate you for sharing this. What a privilege to know YOU!
LOL- Sally
I, too, grew up in a home based business - farming. I recall how the 6 members of my family would work a herd of 300+ cattle up and down hills, through creeks and woodlands to the corral. We didn't use cell phones or walkie talkie's back then. We developed our own "sixth sense" as a team. We knew what the other members of the family would do before they did it. Due to the quick responses we had to eachother, seldom were any cattle allowed to backtrack on us. That work ethic and team "sense" still exists in our family today. Involving your children in your home based business is a great way to deeply and intuitively connect with them.
I learned my work ethic from my grandmother. She had 9 childern and a lost her husband early in life. She cleaned houses for people to make money and helped raise me and my two brothers. She did not drive, but knew where she was going.
Children are watching.
God Bless,
Kristin
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