When I ditched my corporate life to be a freelance writer (and then a stay-at-home mom/homeschooler), I expected some trade-offs. Looking back, the pros outweighed the cons by far. While I do miss the steady paycheck (admittedly, that’s a big one), I don’t miss much else from my days as a corporate worker bee.
5 Things I Don’t Miss About Corporate Life
- Dealing with weird co-workers and office politics. I once worked with a woman who smelled like an egg. Literally, like a hard-boiled egg left sitting in the sun for days. And she smoked. And she believed in the power of crystals and a giant protective bubble that guarded her like an invisible force-field. And on top of all those pluses, she was a man-hating, scorned, bitter divorcé. She was one miserable, smelly co-worker. I don’t miss that. I also don’t miss diving out of the way of that back-stabber in marketing. You know, that brown-nosing, blame-shifting, credit-stealing co-worker who will stop at nothing to get ahead? Yeah, her. Granted, as a work-at-home mom, I’m around two moody, hormonal, bickering teens. But that’s a different kind of office politics. And I can usually solve the bickering by withholding their screen time.
- Commuting. When I lived and worked in New Jersey, I had a 45-minute commute to one of my jobs – in good weather and normal traffic. Throw in a blizzard, blinding rainstorm, construction, or at least one traffic-snarling accident a week and my one-way trip would top out over an hour. One time, a record 3 ft. snowfall buried us overnight. My boss (who lived 5 minutes from work) called me at 10 a.m. wondering why I wasn’t at work. Well . . . since there’s a snowdrift as tall as a 6th grader blocking my front door and I can only see the roof of my snowed-in car and the snowplows won’t get to my little neighborhood-in-the-woods for hours, why do you think I’m not at work? My Attendance Nazi Boss actually docked me a vacation day for this. Now, as a work-at-home mom, I simply walk down the stairs. Nice.
Exhibit A (minus the hat)
- Buying a work wardrobe. Bordering on tomboyish (minus the athletic skills), I never really liked wearing dresses. (This might date back to my toddler days wearing itchy Easter outfits, complete with white gloves, hats and itchy crinoline to poof out my little-girl dresses in the ‘60s. See Exhibit A.) Throw in a blazer, stockings and high heels, and I feel like I’m practically smothering in my own straitjacket layering of clothes and teetering on stilts. As a work-at-home mom in Florida, I’ve adopted a more comfortably casual style—jeans and no-iron shirts (winter wear) or shorts, tank tops and flip flops (the other nine months). My go-anywhere style translates well to working pool-side on my laptop, chauffeuring the boys to school or running to Costco.
- Attending meetings. I don’t do mornings, so those 8 a.m. weekly departmental meetings were killer. I need at least 30 minutes for the caffeine to kick in before I can actively listen to sales forecasts, HR policy changes, committee reports and new dress code mandates. Plus, most meetings were nothing but a huge time-suck, where 90% of the discussions were irrelevant to my job, a rehash of old problems that never got solved or dominated by some blow-hard who tried to force-feed his opinions to everyone. And, if I was unlucky enough to be stuck sitting next to The Egg for the meeting, I might as well be in Corporate Hell.
- Missing my boys grow up. I saved the best for last because this is where the big payoff kicks in. Because I chose family over career, I didn’t miss my boys’ childhood. I relished being home with my kids to witness all their milestones: first steps, first words, first fights between brothers, first day of kindergarten, more fights between brothers, etc. Hearing the details of my boys’ childhood from a daycare provider would be like hearing that someone else hit the Powerball jackpot. If I’m not the one personally walking away with a fistful of cash, then it’s just a sound-bite about someone else’s good news. So being there for my boys? Priceless.
What did you ditch (i.e., a job, a friendship, a hobby, etc.) that you now don’t miss?
Adam and I used to laugh and shake our heads with confusion when we would talk to our friends with kids telling us how they couldn’t wait for school to start so they could have peace in the house. I never felt that way. I always looked forward to summer and even homeschooling because it meant more time spent with our kids. Making memories. Now with distance slowly peeking in between us I can only hope that the time spent with them was just as memorable to them as it was for us.
Like you, I was lucky enough to be able to stay at home. But even now, with the opportunity to work I, have no desire to put up with any other boss than myself or Adam.
I agree — being able to stay home with the boys, both as a mom and homeschooler, was definitely worth it, and it’s not a luxury everyone can afford to do. And while I do miss writing, I don’t miss “going to work” in the traditional sense. Freelancing allows me to do what I love with great flexibility (something I still need while I continue my role as chauffeur for a few more years).
Awe, I remember the poof dresses well, and of course you had to have the white gloves or it wasn’t complete. I was lucky to be a stay at home Mom too! Loved it! Here’s a little tidbit about the white gloves: My Mother also dressed me the same way and when I had my horses she would say, ” Oh how I use to love those little hands with your little white gloves on………and now you’re mucking stalls with no gloves at all”. Love your little picture Lisa!
Thanks! Yeah, those itchy, poofy dresses kind of killed my desire to wear dresses much. Cute, but so uncomfortable.
I did love those childhood “dress up” times though! You looked so beautiful, even though when you sat down your dress just “poofed” out so much, couldn’t see your face….LOL. Loved the article. I relished my time as a “stay-at-home” mom also. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Nothing like being there w/your children and seeing and being there for all their accomplishments!
Yep, so glad I was lucky enough to stay home with the boys.