職場媽媽在家辦公好處多

Society’s been quick to label the “stay at home mom”and the “working mother,” but the “work at homemom” is rarely ever mentioned.

女性有了孩子后，社會就會迅速地給她們貼上諸如“全職媽媽”和“職場媽媽”之類的標簽，但“在家辦公的媽媽”則幾乎無人提及。

I’ve been a work at home mom—in some capacity—since my first son was born in 2010. When he wasseven months old, I returned to my day job, workingpart-time. I was directing a business developmentteam for a non-profit and—despite the boundaries Ihad tried to set by reeling back my schedule—people never had a problem calling me on mydays off or afterhours. I couldn’t just “shut off,” so I was inevitably the mother pushing myson on the swing with a phone at my ear.

2010年，自我的大兒子出生以后，我就一直以某種身份在家工作。他七個月大的時候，我找了一份兼職，又開始正常的白班工作。我在一家非營利性機構(gòu)負責指導業(yè)務開發(fā)團隊，盡管我盡量劃分出工作與生活的界限，努力避免日程安排與家庭生活發(fā)生沖突，但他們還是會在休息日或下班時間給我打電話。我不可能“掛掉電話”，所以陪孩子蕩秋千時，我可能還得聽電話，這種事總是不可避免的。

 

 

I had my second baby in 2013 and I decided to leave my job and start my own business. Withtwo other partners, I launched Baby Caravan—a company that helps postpartum womannavigate maternity leave and the subsequent return to work.

2013年，我有了第二個孩子，這一次我決定辭去工作，自己創(chuàng)業(yè)。我與其他兩位合伙人共同創(chuàng)建了BabyCaravan公司——其宗旨是幫助產(chǎn)后女性解決產(chǎn)假問題和重返工作崗位。

Having your own business definitely provides flexibility, as well as other advantages. When Iwas getting my business off the ground, my son was three-months-old and I brought him withme everywhere—including the bank while I opened a business account and to client visits. Noone blinked an eye; they understood my need to be both a mother and a businesswoman.

經(jīng)營自己的公司，確實給我?guī)砹遂`活性和其他的許多好處。在公司籌備過程中，我不論去哪兒都會把三個月大的兒子帶在身邊，比如去銀行開戶或者去拜訪客戶的時候。見到這一幕，沒有人會眨一下眼睛——他們都理解我需要同時扮演好媽媽和商業(yè)女性兩個角色。

Work at home moms have similar perks to stay at home moms. They can attend the pre-schoolholiday parties or pick up a sick child from school and still make it back home for a 1PMconference call. They’re also able to save money on childcare by working evenings and duringnaps time (something I am doing at this very moment). It’s almost like you get to—dare I say—“have it all.” That is, if you don’t mind ending a work call abruptly when you notice that thediaper you thought had at least ten more minutes in it actually didn’t.

在家工作的媽媽可以享受到與全職媽媽相似的好處。比如，她們可以參加學前節(jié)日派對或者去學校接生病的孩子，然后在下午1點準時出席電話會議，還可以在晚上和午睡時間工作，進而節(jié)省一筆雇保姆的支出(我現(xiàn)在正在這么做)。我敢說，這便相當于實現(xiàn)了“擁有一切”。當然，有時候你以為至少要再過十多分鐘才需要換尿布，結(jié)果孩子卻給了你一個驚喜，這時，你不得不突然掛斷工作電話。如果你不介意這種情況，你可以認為自己擁有了一切。

So why don’t more companies employ work at home moms? These are mothers who canbalance their time like any other adult. Instead of fitting work between office gossip, coffee runsand Facebook updates, these women fit it in between naps, doctor appointments, schoolpickups and childcare relief.

為什么還有那么多的公司不愿意聘用在家工作的媽媽們?她們完全可以與其他成年人一樣平衡自己的時間。只不過，正常上班族是在聊辦公室八卦、喝咖啡和更新Facebook的間隙安排工作，而在家工作的媽媽們則是在孩子午睡、預約醫(yī)生、去學校接孩子和照顧孩子的間隙進行工作。

For many women, this sort of set-up would be a total dream. They get to spend time with theirfamilies while also advancing their careers and contributing financially to their families. AsPresident Obama mentioned in his State Of The Union address in January, childcare costs areastronomical. Mothers often leave the workforce not by choice, but because it just doesn’tmake economic sense to stay—especially if they have more than one child. Having one parentwork from home—as a part-time employee or as an entrepreneur—helps families free upsome of those funds.

對于許多女性來說，這種安排是她們夢寐以求的。她們既可以拿出時間來陪家人，又能發(fā)展自己的事業(yè)，還能在經(jīng)濟上為家庭做出貢獻。正如美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬在今年1月的國情咨文中所說，養(yǎng)育孩子是一筆巨額開支。媽媽們通常并非自愿選擇離開職場，而是因為繼續(xù)留在職場在經(jīng)濟上不劃算——對于有多個孩子的母親更是如此。父母一方在家工作，比如從事兼職或創(chuàng)業(yè)，可以幫助家庭節(jié)省雇保姆的支出。

Case-in-point: My husband and I send our 1 1/2 -year-old to daycare two days a week. This isa gigantic expense for us, but it would be even more costly to hire a nanny to take care of himthroughout the week. As a work at home mom, I can adjust my hours to accommodate mostof my child’s needs. That’s a big deal for my family.

我的親身經(jīng)歷：我和丈夫每周兩天把一歲半的兒子送到日托中心。這對我們來說是一筆龐大的開支，但聘用保姆整個星期照看孩子的費用可能更高。作為一名在家工作的媽媽，我可以調(diào)整自己的時間，來滿足孩子的大多數(shù)需求。對我們家來說，這樣做很有意義。

This set-up would allow businesses to keep talented employees who aren’t looking to havetheir young children in full-time care. Women who are professionally driven will always be driven,no matter where their desk is.

而且，這種安排可以讓公司留住那些不希望將孩子交給專職日托的優(yōu)秀員工。想做出一番事業(yè)的職業(yè)女性總是干勁十足，這與她們在哪里辦公無關(guān)。

As technology advances, the idea of what a typical employee and a normal family look like willcontinue to change. And businesses need to see that forcing traditional work hours onemployees with non-traditional aspirations will hurt, not help, the companies in the long-term.

隨著科技的發(fā)展，員工和家庭的正常形態(tài)會繼續(xù)發(fā)生變化。公司需要清楚，從長期來看，強迫有著非傳統(tǒng)志向的員工遵循傳統(tǒng)的工作時間，不但對公司無益，反而會造成傷害。