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 home mom” is rarely ever mentioned.

女性有了孩子後，社會就會迅速地給她們貼上諸如“全職媽媽”和“職場媽媽”之類的標籤，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 was seven months old, I returned to my day job, working part-time. I was directing a business development team for a non-profit and—despite the boundaries I had tried to set by reeling back my schedule—people never had a problem calling me on my days off or afterhours. I couldn’t just “shut off,” so I was inevitably the mother pushing my son on the swing with a phone at my ear.

2010年，自我的大兒子出生以後，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負責指導業務開發團隊，儘管我儘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生衝突，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”，所以陪孩子盪鞦韆時，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. With two other partners, I launched Baby Caravan—a company that helps postpartum woman navigate 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，自己創業。我與其他兩位合夥人共同創建了Baby Caravan公司——其宗旨是幫助產後女性解決產假問題和重返工作崗位。

Having your own business definitely provides flexibility, as well as other advantages. When I was getting my business off the ground, my son was three-months-old and I brought him with me everywhere—including the bank while I opened a business account and to client visits. No one blinked an eye; they understood my need to be both a mother and a businesswoman.

經營自己的公司，確實給我帶來了靈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女性兩個角色。

Work at home moms have similar perks to stay at home moms. They can attend the pre-school holiday parties or pick up a sick child from school and still make it back home for a 1PM conference call. They’re also able to save money on childcare by working evenings and during naps 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 the diaper 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日派對或者去學校接生病的孩子，然後在下午1點準時出席電話會議，還可以在晚上和午睡時間工作，進而節省一筆僱保姆的支出（我現在正在這麼做）。我敢說，這便相當於實現了“擁有一切”。當然，有時候你以爲至少要再過十多分鐘才需要換尿布，結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，你可以認爲自己擁有了一切。

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

爲什麼還有那麼多的公司不願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 their families while also advancing their careers and contributing financially to their families. As President Obama mentioned in his State Of The Union address in January, childcare costs are astronomical. Mothers often leave the workforce not by choice, but because it just doesn’t make economic sense to stay—especially if they have more than one child. Having one parent work from home—as a part-time employee or as an entrepreneur—helps families free up some of those funds.

對於許多女性來說，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，又能發展自己的事業，還能在經濟上爲家庭做出貢獻。正如美國總統奧巴馬在今年1月的國情諮文中所說，養育孩子是一筆鉅額開支。媽媽們通常並非自願選擇離開職場，而是因爲繼續留在職場在經濟上不划算——對於有多個孩子的母親更是如此。父母一方在家工作，比如從事兼職或創業，可以幫助家庭節省僱保姆的支出。

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

我的親身經歷：我和丈夫每週兩天把一歲半的兒子送到日託中心。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。作爲一名在家工作的媽媽，我可以調整自己的時間，來滿足孩子的大多數需求。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 have their 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託的優秀員工。想做出一番事業的職業女性總是幹勁十足，這與她們在哪裏辦公無關。

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

隨着科技的發展，員工和家庭的正常形態會繼續發生變化。公司需要清楚，從長期來看，強迫有着非傳統志向的員工遵循傳統的工作時間，不但對公司無益，反而會造成傷害。