The Carroll Clan: What WAH means to me...

Growing up I never imagined I'd be a mom. It was never really one of those things I always hoped and dreamed to be. I wanted a good job and maybe a husband - just maybe.

Then I met and married Steve and things changed. Having a family started to creep into my head slowly and then one day I woke up and realized that my decision was made. I wanted to be a mom.

But I wanted to work too. I could never see myself as a stay-at-home mom. I'm too career oriented. I don't love kids all that much and I have WAY too much of my own mother in me. But even she will say "it's different when they're your own." She stayed home with my brother and I for six years and then went back to work because we drove her nuts. Okay - maybe not nuts, but she would say that she craved adult conversation and even her brilliant (ya - I said brilliant) kiddos just weren't cutting it.

I knew that this would be the case with me. So, when Steve and I got pregnant I knew that I'd never be a stay at home. Not because of the money but because I knew I'd be a much happier wife, mother, person if I could leave and go into work each day. Some may call me selfish or even wrong for desiring to leave my child but I say that it is 2009, women have been working out of the home successfully for 50 years.

With all that said, once that little thing started growing inside me all those motherly instincts started to wash over me. Damn hormones. Anyways...five days a week, eight to ten hours away and all that time spent in daycare crept up. Even more so since when I came back from maternity leave I was starting in a new managerial role and knew that I would get busier and busier.

So I had to come up with a better solution. And working from home was it. I knew I wouldn't be able to WAH every day. I had six (now nine) new employees to manage and needed to be in the office for that. But I felt I could swing one day a week to be at home with my little peanut and still be a good manager/employee at the same time.

Here we are over a year later. I'm still working with my employees to understand that I am just as reachable at home as if I were in the office - IM, email, phone, etc. But I feel good about it. Most of the time I get so much more accomplished. Like clearing out that darn email box and using nap time to focus on the more difficult stuff. WAH on Fridays helps alleviate the Mommy Guilt (man that stuff is bad) a little bit and helps me maintain my sanity (I can only sing Itsy Bitsy Spider so many times - God bless daycare providers.) I'm blessed to have a boss that was willing to work with me and allow me such flexibility.

So...here's a little glimpse into one of my WAH Fridays (plus I really needed to put some new pics of Allyson up.)

I've discovered that I can get the kiddo to smile by asking her to show me her teeth. Hey - I'll take the cheesy grin.