DAY 1632... Being a Work From Home Mom

I am so extremely blessed with my current job.

Spencer and I are among many weathering the challenges of being married,

having two kids,

all while he is attending school.

I had graduated with my undergrad before we married,

and I received my master's degree 3 years after we were married.

I have the skills and job experience,

as well as the education,

to have a well paying job.

But at what expense?

I hate the idea of daycare.

I know that that is what works for some people,

but it is NOT for me.

It's like cloth diapers,

Taco Time,

donuts,

or McDonald's hamburgers...

It's just not for me.

It's an opinion and feeling.

I have absolutely no issues with people who choose daycare for their child,

I understand that in some cases,

this is the only option.

But it was something that Spencer and I really wanted to avoid.

I absolutely do not want anyone else raising my children.

Plus,

Benson is too young to talk and tell me if something horrible happened,

and I am one protective mama bear and feel as though children who cannot talk are too vulnerable to be left without a parent or family member who truly has their best interest in mind.

I am going to blame these thoughts and worries on the fact that I read too much.

Especially online...

Spencer and I are the kind of people that when we want something,

we will do just about anything to accomplish it.

This includes who and how are children are raised,

and avoiding daycare at all costs.

A week after Aniston was born,

I got a job,

that I loved,

working for the school district.

It was perfect because I only had to be at the school for 4 hours a day,

in the afternoon,

and we were always able to work Spencer's school schedule around it.

I made some amazing memories,

and some good friends at this job.

I kept working that job for 3 school years.

But the further along you get in school,

the less selective you can be with when you take your classes,

which meant we weren't going to be able to manipulate Spencer's class schedule to work around my work schedule anymore.

Towards the end of my 3rd year with the school district,

my brother Jake was coming over and spending a couple hours with my children while Spencer went to class.

Even though it was family,

and my children were still kept in my home,

it worried me.

I just didn't like it.

Plus, Jake was leaving to go on a mission and the thought of daycare or a babysitter scared the heck out of me.

Spencer and I decided that we would apply for an apartment management position.

We didn't know exactly what that would encompass,

and we didn't know if it would even work,

but it felt like the right thing to do.

I found a couple openings and applied to both.

I didn't think anything would come of it because these are coveted jobs in Rexburg,

and really hard to get.

Seriously,

ask anyone in Rexburg and they will tell you how competitive these jobs are.

Much to my surprise,

I had the opportunity to interview at two complexes.

My first interview was with a corporation who owned a bright and shiny and new complex.

The pay was amazing and the job title was insane!

We would live in the complex in a brand new 3 bedrooms apartment,

but I would be required to work in the office 8 hours a day.

Basically this put us in the same boat as before.

Yes,

I would be making more money,

but I would be gone twice as long and we would be faced with the daycare situation all over again.

The following day,

we had a joint interview at a smaller complex that was privately owned.

Has anyone ever experienced a joint job interview with their spouse?

So awkward!

Spencer and I left the interview feeling like such failures!

We truly felt as though it had gone horribly horribly wrong.

2 days later I turned down the job offer from the corporation owned complex.

Even though we hadn't heard back from the smaller complex,

we just didn't feel like it was the right fit for us.

On St. Patrick's Day,

I don't know why I even remember that,

I received a phone call from Seattle, WA.

I knew immediately that it was the owners of the smaller complex.

I braced myself for the blow.

But surprisingly,

they offered us the job.

I bawled my eyes out,

because this was such a blessing for our family!

At this specific complex,

the office is attached to the apartment,

and is only open 4 hours a day.

But let's be honest here,

It's a 24/7 job.

I get texts, calls and knocks on my door all hours of the day.

But it's 100% worth it to me.

This allows me to stay at home with my children,

to raise them,

to be comfortable,

and basically to have my dreams come true.

It doesn't matter what Spencer's school schedule is like,

because I can watch my kids while I work.

We have set up the apartment so that their toy room is next to my office and I just set up a gate and they play while I work.

It isn't a huge complex,

and there is down time,

so I can still play and pay attention to my children during work hours.

I don't miss out of milestones,

and they won't have another person to tag in their favorite memories.

I get to make the memories with them.

I get to be the one who they will remember.

For me,

this is really important and something that I needed to have.

The apartment is perfect and we love it.

We have no debt (except car and school loans),

and have been blessed to have all of our needs,

and most reasonable wants met from this job.

The owners are AMAZING,

and so easy to work with.

We have been here almost a year,

and even though there are times where playing mom to 168 single guys can be difficult,

we feel so blessed to be where we are and to have this opportunity.

There are definitely challenges when it comes to working at home.

My children don't always understand that I'm working,

and it's hard to explain that to them.

But it is really the ideal situation for our family at this time.

It takes A LOT of discipline to work from home and sometimes focus gets lost.

This isn't a stay in you PJ's and chill kind of job.

I have 168 sets of parents counting and depending on me to make their sons living experience,

while at school,

an amazing experience.

it can feel like a lot of pressure at times.

I definitely run these apartments and manage the way that I would want someone to treat my son when he is away from school.

We have received the blessings of having so many service opportunities while managing,

and we have been exposed to an entirely new world,

with the opportunity to learn and gain new skills.

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

I know that we were blessed and given this opportunity,

partly because of my education and qualifications,

but mostly as a confirmation that we are where we need to be and doing what we need to be doing.

That is definitely something we needed in Rexburg.

Shout out to all the work from home parents.

It's not always easy,

but for me,

And I'm sure for you as well,

it's 100% totally worth it!