I recently wrote a series of posts entitled “a few things I love about being home-based” in which I talked about rush hour traffic, hanging out with my dog and having a “portable” career. Ironically, despite writing these posts less than a month ago, I never really realized how valuable my work at-home career was until this week.
Perhaps you’ve wondered where I’ve been. My son came down with a severe case of the croup this week. He couldn’t breathe, and wound up spending nearly a week in the hospital. It was awful.
Thankfully, I was able to spend every moment by his side while he recovered. I would venture to guess that a child’s illness is one of the greatest stressors a person can face. I feel blessed that I was able to focus entirely on my child without thinking about work-related issues. I didn’t have to call my boss and I didn’t have to try to find someone to “cover” for me. It was absolutely refreshing to know that once our emergency was over, I could simply return to work at the pace that was beneficial for him, and the rest of my family.
On the other hand, my husband (who is in law enforcement) spent much of his time trying to figure out if he could get time off to spend with our son. He had to calculate his sick leave and vacation time. He even spent several hours trying to get a co-worker to cover his shift so he could spend an evening with our son.
I remember thinking that had this occurred while I was a social worker, I would have had similar stressors. I would have spent time wondering if I’d accrued enough time-off and if my cases were being handled appropriately. My boss would have called the hospital room numerous times to check on my son…while inquiring when I would return to work.
I’ll admit. I am busier than ever this week. I am trying to catch up on my blogging. I am busy posting items on Ebay and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the medical bill so I can plan my work-hours accordingly for the next few months. While my home business has been more stressful than normal this week I feel absolutely blessed that I was able to give every ounce of my attention to my sick child.