E Profiles

Finally! You have the chance to work from home! Anyone who takes this leap, and those considering going forward with this decision, have had to weigh the pros and cons. Working from home can be both a blessing and a burden: It’s wonderful to set your own schedule, and be available to go to sports games and assemblies. But just because you work out of the spare bedroom doesn’t mean that you can constantly cater to your family’s every beck and call, and still put in a productive work day.

Working from home is a balancing act for the whole family and requires everyone’s respect and support. Sixteen year-old, Matt Simon, knows this from first-hand experience. Check out Matt’s illuminating article, and get a teen’s perspective about what it’s really like to have a parent working from home.

When Parents Work at Home: “My Name is Matt…and My Mom Works from Home”

Matt is a teen writer for Radical Parenting.com, a parenting website written from the kid’s perspective with 82 teen interns! He is a 16-year-old from New York City, NY. He loves to be social and spend time with his friends, as well as being an active leader in his community. However, school also plays an important role in his life and he is motivated to achieve his dreams. For more articles by teens please check out RadicalParenting.com.

My mom has officially worked from home for about three years now. Like everything my mom does, I see the positives and the negatives of this drastic change in her life. Because of this, I feel the need to discuss a few things with those teens who, like me, have a parent working at home.

Personally, I LOVE knowing when my mom is working and when she’s open to do whatever. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, however, she can be aggressive sometimes. Because of this fact, I need to know when I can talk to her and when I should stay clear of her office/my sister’s old room. Because my mom is the only source of income for my family (my dad hasn’t worked for over twenty years), I feel the need to let my mom do what she needs to do in order to keep the bacon flowing.

Since my mom started working at home and started her own law firm, the rest of the family developed their own respective “roles” during the my mom’s working time. I do my homework or go to work, my dad prepares dinner and/or does the laundry. My mom does her work. Simple. At 7:30 every night marks the end of my mom’s work time because that’s when we all sit down and have dinner together and share stories about the days we’ve had. I personally love it like this. However, I do understand the other side, where there is a more flexible time of work. In my opinion though, I feel as if the work will never truly be completed. I think we have a balance at my family, and it works out perfectly!

My mom usually stops her work after dinner, however there are those nights where she works all night. To be honest, this really does not bother me because on weekdays and Saturday nights, I am very independent from my parents. After dinner, I either finish my homework or go out and hang out with my friends. Therefore, if my mom were to work after dinner, it would not phase me. However, my time with my parents is Sunday nights. I would be DEVASTATED if my mom worked on Sunday nights. I wouldn’t cry or anything–I’m almost seventeen–but I would be disappointed. We always watch movies on Sunday nights, all together as a family. That includes my mom!

Now, for the main event: How does my mom working at home affect my stress level?

I have a valid answer, in my opinion. I really don’t feel more stressed or less stressed on a daily basis. That may just be because of my personality, or maybe because of my age. However, those days when my mom is stressed… I get stressed! She comes out of her office sometimes, completely frazzled– and I NEVER use that word! She either has just dealt with a nasty client, or hates the case she’s working on, or anything. Whenever she’s in her “mood,” we ALL feel it.

I actually see a correlation between my test grades and my mom’s stress level. When she’s stressed, I’m stressed and I don’t reach my full potential at school. Other than that though, I like knowing that my mom is home most of the time. I feel comfortable knowing that if there is ever a problem, I can always tell my mom, even if it is before dinner.

My name is Matt, and my mom works from home. There are some positives and negatives. In my opinion though, I prefer my mom working out of the house, just because then I can cherish her time at home more. However, either way, I enjoy knowing the fact that my mom is still doing what she loves to do, no matter of the location.

For those teens out there: I’d love to hear your take on this!

For those parents out there: I’d love to hear your take too!

This is definitely something that affects everyone in the family as a whole.

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