Just before the New Year, my mom suffered a life-threatening ruptured brain aneurysm. She survived, and when she eventually was released from the hospital, she was weak and battled daily headaches. As soon as she was home, I left my elementary school-aged daughter at home in the care of my husband and church friends, packed bags for myself and my preschool-aged daughter, and drove six hours to my parents’ house. I spent eight days there cooking, cleaning, and offering my arm for mom to hold whenever she needed to shuffle to the bathroom.
I am a part-time freelance writer and editor, so I also took my work with me. During quiet moments – when the laundry was folded, the dishes were clean, my daughter was playing in the toy room my mom keeps stocked, and mom was napping – I wrote and proofread dozens of press releases for a nonprofit organization.
As a mother, freelance work is my way to “have it all,” enjoying a career of sorts while having ample time for my family, whether it be my children or my parents. My primary role is a stay-at-home mom, and my days are filled with trips to parks and library story time, so I purposely limit my work hours. I don’t earn a large income, and my hours and pay fluctuate depending on what projects I’m working on.
Although I’m very part-time, I have come to enjoy the perks of self-employment so much that when my youngest daughter starts school full-time this fall and I will have seven child-free hours each day, I will continue to work from home and do what I’ve been doing, with increased hours.
I wasn’t always a freelancer. After double majoring in English and Writing, I worked as a copy and design editor at a newspaper. The newsroom was filled with interesting people and a bustle of activity that I liked, but job opportunities for journalists aren’t as plentiful as they used to be, and the evening and night hours don’t mesh easily with family life.
I stopped clocking in at a traditional employer just before my first daughter was born more than nine years ago. My intention was simply to be a stay-at-home mom and homemaker for a few years, and maybe I would work on writing a novel during my daughter’s nap times. I wasn’t sure what my eventual re-entry into the work force would look like.
Novel writing was harder than I anticipated, so I set that aside when my friend, Katie, who holds a degree in creative writing, invited me to write for the parenting blog she had started, Mumbling Mommy (mumblingmommy.com). Creative nonfiction flowed more easily from my pen. I’ve written creative nonfiction and informative pieces for Mumbling Mommy for more than five years now, and a few years ago I became the managing editor of that blog, drawing a small but steady income.
Other side jobs have crept in over the years. I’ve written and proofread press releases on a seasonal basis for a nonprofit organization. I have edited devotional books and curriculum for a small Christian publisher. I once got paid to judge entries in a blog contest.
Some work is based directly out of my home: I write and proofread for a grocery store review website (aldireviewer.com) that my husband started and recently monetized. My husband also is a published science fiction novelist and, while I don’t earn money for it, I am the first person to read his manuscripts and offer content suggestions, and I also proofread them. When I can help make his copy as clean as possible, I’d like to hope I’m also helping to keep his royalty checks coming, and we both benefit from that (modest) income.
Much of the work I’ve done is not work I have actively sought. My aforementioned creative writer friend, Katie – a mom of five who avoids high day care costs by freelancing full-time – contacts me when she has more work offers than she can complete. Sometimes I’ve turned down work because of family obligations. I’m still mostly a stay-at-home mom rather than a work-from-home mom, but only until the next school year starts in August. The fact that I’ve felt okay turning down work is a good sign that there is – and will be – work when I am ready. This fall, I’m hoping work will distract me from the sobering fact that all my babies are no longer babies.
Self-employment brings with it flexibility, portability, and self-sufficiency. Moreover, it is an ideal way to balance time between family and career. Freelancing leaves me time to care for my kids and volunteer at their school, to be home to let in the repairman when the water heater breaks, and to go on vacations with my family. It’s also one of the few jobs that I can do even when I’m two states away with my mom during a health emergency. That value goes beyond a paycheck.
Rachael Johnston, a freelance writer and editor, is the managing editor of the parenting website Mumbling Mommy (www.mumblingmommy.com). She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Writing from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2002 and worked as a newspaper editor before her children were born. She enjoys live theatre, cooking, and gardening, and she dreams of keeping chickens in her suburban back yard. She lives in the St. Louis area with her husband and two daughters. You can contact her by emailing rachael@mumblingmommy.com.