In Which Jim Whines

[jimhines]

Two weeks ago, I took time off of the day job so I could be with my wife during a surgical procedure and the first part of her recovery. Everything went smoothly, and I brought her home on day two.

For the next week and a half, I played stay-at-home Dad. I got up with the kids, fed them breakfast, and got them off to school. I took care of dishes,

Comments

[nathreee]

I know how you feel. I would so much like to write and be a mom and nothing else. It would mean that our house was clean, that I would get writing done and I would always have time to do the groceries before the weekend or holiday rush. But we just can't afford to live like that...

[jimhines]

Yep. And I think the most frustrating part, for me, is knowing that under slightly different circumstances I could probably make it work. That life is taunting me, and I'm about ready to punch it in the nose to make it stop.

[nathreee]

Since the benefits are my husband's anyway, and his job is not going anywhere. We're thinking about making it work, but we haven't completed all the calculations yet. Any advice?

[jimhines]

I'd suggest talking to folks who've done it. I've been told you should try to build up a good cushion of savings before making the jump, but I've also seen people who got fired and did the sink or swim thing, and made it work.

Mostly though, talk to people who are already freelancing. They'll have much better advice than I do :-)

[barbarienne]

PUT MONEY ASIDE.

That is, before you quit and try to live on one income, actually live on one income. Take your earnings and put them in a savings account. Do this for a year. If you can make it work, then you know you'll be all right to quit your job. And you'll have the bonus of money set aside for an emergency.

[cathshaffer]

Go for it! Leaps of faith are always risky and uncomfortable. Life is too short to spend it doing what you don't want to do. I know lots of people who have made the leap to freelance, and none of them have become crack hos yet. If the math works, or sort of works, your relationship is stable, and you are currently financially solvent, your odds are probably pretty good.

[cathshaffer]

Well, this may not make you feel better, but I've been a full time mom/writer since 2000, and my house is rarely clean and we still have a lot of trouble with the groceries and other chores. :-)

[nathreee]

This remark was born from my own observation. When I have a few days off from work, the house gets cleaned and the groceries get done. I recognise that you and I are probably very different people, and that's fine.

[cathshaffer]

Well, sure, but once you have a full load of writing work with deadlines, it gets in the way of housework just like your full time job. Maybe that's not what you had in mind, though. I think I do marginally better than I would working outside the home, because I do use work breaks to run the dishwasher and laundry. But still! :-)

[nathreee]

I've been told one difficulty is the number of people who assume that "I'm working from home" = "Yes, I can do all these different things you want me to do that eat up my time, because of course I'm free."

I would presume the presence of a child alleviates that somewhat over "I'm writing freelance".