Teleworking ain't always all it's cracked up to be

I am extremely fortunate to have bosses that trust me and are flexible with allowing me to work from home. Really the number of things I can't do from home are very limited - I can't make copies, send things in the courier, or talk to a co-worker face to face. Other than that, I can do everything remotely. During the school year, I telework on Wednesdays and Fridays - it really breaks the week up. It also allows Amy to walk home from school two days a week, and not go to CASA those days (her after-school program which she's grown to really dislike). This winter it's been particularly good to telework because the schools were closed so many days due to the weather - I didn't have to take vacation time or pay someone to watch the kids while I went to the office. Teleworking is really great for me, gives me time back in my day (the nearly 60 minutes I spend in the car getting to/from work) and I can take advantage of the solid block of time at home on Wednesdays and do the laundry (hey, I'm here anyway!).

Last summer, I cut down to just teleworking on Fridays, to allow the summer babysitter a 4-day work week/3-day weekend.

There is a down side to teleworking, though. Even though I'm physically present, I'm not really "here" for the kids. Reed doesn't care much, but it bothers Amy. I'm not able to really interact with her a whole lot (other than refereeing between the kids, which no one enjoys). I know she'd rather I just take the snow days off and relax with them...but being a teleworker kind of puts on the pressure to work regardless of the weather. I feel like if I take the good (being home with the kids when I need to be, being here for repair people to come, easily taking the kids to appointments, etc.), I also have to take the bad of working when I'd rather not.

I guess I just want to say that it's not lost on me that it's not all that great to have Mom home, if all she's doing is staying in the office all day working.