Determining whether you are cut out to be a work-at-home dad is the first step on an important road to defining your role in the family. You may not have thought of yourself as someone who would be a great work at home dad. Perhaps you always have followed the traditional role of being a dad who works outside the home. But times are changing, and your priorities may revolve around family more than ever before.
For me, the decision to become a work-at-home dad was based largely upon family. After the death of my mother and seeing the impact that loss had on my kids, I realized that I wanted more than anything to be there for them. I didn’t want to go back to a traditional workplace and office environment although I did want to bring in an income to provide for my family. I wanted to see my kids more than early in the morning and late at night. I decided to become a work-at-home dad.
There are 2 types of dads who work at home. One is the dad who telecommutes to a full time job. This may be the same job that used to require working in an office and usually means standard business hours. With this type of at-home work, it may not be possible for dad to assume full-time child care responsibilities. The other work-from-home dad is the dad who starts his own career by creating a home-based business. In this case, less-traditional work hours allow for more flexibility and more time to take a hands-on role with the children. Work hours can include weekends and night time when the children are asleep.
When deciding whether you are going to be a work at home dad, it is important to consider a few things. First, being a work-at-home dad is actually quite a bit more work than you faced in the workplace! Remember, you’ll be not only working at home but also handling family obligations, childcare, and household responsibilities. This is a lot of work. Don’t fool yourself. The work-at-home dad does not live a life of leisure.
Another important thing to remember as a work-at-home dad—you must be able to juggle. There’s a lot of multi-tasking required from the work-at-home dad. So if you aren’t good with balancing a lot at once, this isn’t the role for you. Whether you telecommute or have created your own home-based business, you are still responsible for all the same tasks you’d be responsible for in the workplace—with the addition of the responsibilities of home and child care. You may be on a business call with a crying child on one side of you and a pile of laundry on the other. Juggling is a must.
Being a work-at-home dad is not right for everyone. For me, it has allowed me the flexibility to be a hands-on parent to my children while providing an income. Make sure it’s the right thing for you before embarking on this path.
Reference: http://BusinessTM.com/about/erik-cornella/
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