Rashmi's Space

When you are working, you long to stay at home; and when you are at home, you long to work - even if it is just to maintain your sanity! So then working from home is the ideal solution, no? Well, lets see.  Working from home is the new 'it' thing today. People who work from home are the envied lot, who get to work in their pajamas and spend as much time with their family as they want. Generally viewed as people who manage to enjoy the best of both worlds, their schedule is not tied to the clock like the full-time office goers. They also do not have to answer to anyone but themselves... All in all, working from home sounds like being your own boss! Well, everyone is perceived by others differently. This is how stereotypes and myths are created, that mostly stick on, no matter whether they apply to a particular individual or not.  Here are some of the myths (we found at Ramblings et al ) that are prevalent about people who work from home; and the truth as ...

A cup of coffee for your little one?  Or how about tea?  No?  How about a chocolate milkshake then? Or may be some soda?  Oh! And some cookies to munch on? Well, that's alright then! 

"A day of love....?" "A day when people send valentines to others..... valentines I think are post cards!" "Its the day you ask someone 'Will you be my valentine?'" "I don't know what Valentine's Day is......" "Its a day to tell a girl you 'heart' her!" (as in love her....) (a heart being the pictorial representation of love for children in school)  "Isn't that the day Daddy gets flowers for Mummy?"

"There you are!" She exclaimed from across the room.  I looked up...and knew I had lost my chance.  I had just left my daughter for practice and was looking forward to an hour of uninterrupted reading when a fellow parent and a good friend caught up with me. I had deliberately sat a little apart from the other parents so as to not be disturbed while I read, but of course, this tactic was lost on my well-meaning friend.  "No wonder I didn't see you out front....what are you doing here? Come, let's have a cup of coffee...we have an hour anyway..." she said as she came towards me.  "I was.....I was trying to rea...." I stammered, clutching my book, hoping that she would leave me alone. But she crossed the room in a few long strides and in one fluid motion took my hand and dragged me out of my sanctuary saying "Oh! But you are only reading.....Come on....you can read later, let me first tell you what a little birdie told me........

Every once in a while, I make it a point to go to my daughter’s school and have a chat with her teacher. On these occasions, I also have an added advantage of getting to talk to a few of her friends; and that is something that I look forward to. It is through these conversations that I get an idea as to how my daughter is faring among her peers. These conversations are a good yardstick to measure the emotional ability of my five-year old to be around and deal with other children who are from different backgrounds and of different temperaments. After all, just like a glass filled with water from the ocean is a representative of the entire ocean, so is a class of twenty children a representative of the world at large. So, on one such occasion, after I had met with her teacher, we were getting out of the school, when we saw  two children sitting on a bench near the supervisor’s office. 

5:00 am : The alarm rings. I ‘Snooze’ it and go back to sleep. 5:15 am : The alarm rings again. I ‘Snooze’ it again and go back to sleep. 6:30 am : I wake up bleary eyed and wonder what was wrong with the alarm -  Take one look at the time and rush out of bed!  For the next half hour I can only think of making lunch, breakfast, ironing clothes and making it to the school on time. 7:00 am : I go to wake my five-year old up. She opens her eyes, gives me a sweet smile and says “I don’t want to go to school today,” turns on her side, and goes back to sleep.  Huh! I was at a loss of words. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. One option was to let her sleep as long as she wanted and then take things during the day as they came. But then, what about the rest of the day? Her test in class…her homework… my work…  So then, should I persuade and convince her to get out of bed and go to school? Knowing fully well that she didn't want that?  But of...