Faux Stay at Home Wife

I am a stay at home wife. A faux stay at home wife.

I hold down a full time job in corporate America, however, I don't drive or catch a train to work I just roll out of bed and walk less than 20 feet to my desk. See I telecommute. After years of driving at least 100 miles a day roundtrip to work I now work out of the comfort of my home.  Most of my day is spent  with a phone glued to my ear ( I really need to invest in a headset) on conference calls with my colleagues in our central office.  And  the other half of the day I am banging out Excel spreadsheets looking at a bizillion numbers and calculating all the ways we can turn a profit.

Here is a pic of what my desk typically looks like by about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

I have been working full time from home for over a year now and as winter and the holidays approach I think back to last winter when I actually got a case of cabin fever and quite frankly went a little batty. It is not hard for me not to go out the house for days on end and to easily wear sweat pants or my nightgown all day.   Maybe I shouldn't admit this but sometimes I go days without combing my hair too.) And having as your only source of social interaction your cat and husband for days on end can feel as though you are being socially and intellectually starved. (Nothing against my husband because we have wonderful conversations but I think he also gets stressed from the burden of being my only social outlet most days).

When I tell people that I telecommute, their eyes literally light up and their voice goes up an octave and say with some envy "Wow, that must be sweet." Well it has its pros and cons.

Pros

• You don't have the stress of a long commute
• You have more flexibility in your daily schedule
• You don't have to worry about office politics as much
• You don't have the annoying coworker
• You have the most comfortable work environment possible
• You are always close to the bathroom
• Your pet is with you all day providing companionship and love
• You get more laundry and cleaning done than you normally would
• You have the freedom to wear whatever you want, you set the dress code

Cons

• You have absolutely no meaningful live human contact or stimulation (talking on the phone gets tiresome after a while)
• You are more apt to miscommunication because you do not have key signals via facial expressions and body language
• Becoming lax on personal appearance is easy to do (My husband has come a couple of times and utteredd "Have you even showered yet?")
• No office parties, Secret Santas, or potlucks at holiday time
• No best friend co-worker to console you when you have rough patches at work or when you want to share good news
• You are not in the loop on office gossip
• Sometimes the mantra is true "Out of sight, out of mind" which makes career advancement a little more challenging

Misconceptions

• You work shorter hours while in fact you may actually work longer hours than your counterparts. I can start my day 1-2 hours earlier and I usually finish around the same time.
• You watch TV all day while in fact I don't watch any TV during the day. Nada. Zip. NOT AT ALL. Not even morning shows which I used to catch before I left out when I was commuting. I do listen to NPR till about 8:30 then its silence for the rest of the day. The TV if it comes on does not get turned on till my husband comes home.
• You have so much free time, while if work is really busy I barely have any.  During busy periods it easy to put in at least a 12 hour day and between juggling making dinner and taking of other household stuff that leaves very little free time.

I truly love my work situation but I do need to find away to avoid the cabin fever I had last year and insure I  get out the house every day.

I will leave for a latter post the pressure I feel in staying home and juggling the household chores as if I am a "real" stay at home wife. Pressure which is totally self inflicted.

Does anyone else juggle being a faux stay at home wife? What are the perks or drawbacks to working from home?