Perks of A Work-from-Home Husband!

For about six years now, Ben has worked from home doing his own online business. I've had many conversations with people about this and almost every time, they comment that they couldn't have their husband work at home, or wouldn't want that. 

I honestly love having Ben at home for work. Today, I just wanted to share some of the reasons for that. 

Ben works during the day 

One thing that I think many women don't understand when we talk is that Ben is busy during the day working. He "goes" to work still, it's just to his office in our house instead of driving somewhere. He's not on the couch or in my way in the kitchen, like when a husband has the day off or is still looking for a job. Our routine is also set around him being home, unlike (again) when a husband has a day off. 

Each morning, we get up and get our stuff done and he goes to work while I do things like homeschool, writing, and homemaking stuff. 

He's there if I need him 

One of the things I love about him being in his office is that he's there when I need him. If there is a spider, he can come out and kill it. If something happens to the kids (like hitting their head and bleeding or getting something stuck in their nose), he can come out and I'm not alone in dealing with it. When we were evacuated from our house because the house being built across the street hit the gas line, I was very relieved to have Ben with me to help with the kids and figure out what to do. 

I try not to bother him too much during the day, because he needs to get work done, but when I do need him, he's right there.  

If I want to run errands during naps, I can! 

This is my favorite, especially when I have a newborn! I am a big nap schedule/routine person and put a high priority on baby sleeping. This can be really hard with running errands and having older children, so having Ben home really helps. I can put the baby down and run to the grocery store or take the kids to the library or piano lessons. Ben gets to work, because the baby is asleep, but if something happens, Ben is right there to take care of it until I get home. 

I sometimes do this with the older kids as well. If I have errands (or an appointment of some sort) and I don't want to worry about getting the kids in and out of the car, I can put on a show for them and leave for a bit. This works especially well during Rylee's nap, since Ashtyn and Parker are very low maintenance while watching shows. This was also really nice during quarantine, when I didn't want to take kids into the store with me; I was able to go get groceries at my regular time without worrying about kids in a public place and wearing masks. 

Another great example is Ashtyn's piano lessons. I chose 1:00 for Ashtyn's lesson so that we can still get school stuff done in the morning. I take the older two girls with me and Ben puts Rylee down when he's done eating lunch, and then gets to just work while she naps. Him being home in case something happens allows me a lot of freedom even during naptimes and gives me a break from kids during errands when I need it. 

I don't need to pack meals 

When Ben worked at Test Out (a job we both really liked for him!) after we had Ashtyn, my least favorite part was worrying about meals. I needed to either have leftovers or pack some sort of lunch in time for him to take it. I either had to get up early with him (something I didn't want to do with a young baby!) or do it the day before. I hated that aspect of it. 

Now that he works at home, I just make him breakfast when I make myself breakfast. Lunch, he gets out leftovers or makes himself food in the kitchen whenever he wants. It's super nice to not have to think about it in advance. 

He chooses his own schedule 

One of the biggest perks of him owning his own business is that he gets to choose his own schedule. Most often, he does a regular Monday-Friday 9-5 schedule, and we really try to prioritize his work over other things because that's still how we make a living. When we want or need to change it up, though, we can. Dentist appointments, traveling to see family, or even just helping someone move are easy to schedule because he's in charge of it. 

The same holds true for our schedule at home. If he wants to go do basketball in the morning, he can. If I want him to get done early for a family thing, he can. There's no "late to work" to worry about. 

We get to connect during the day 

This is probably my favorite perk of them all. I love that when he is excited about something at work, or frustrated and needs to work through a problem, he can come out and talk with me about it. And I'm the one he talks to about it. And vice versa--if I'm excited about something or need help, I can talk with him. It sometimes interrupts what the other one is doing, but the opportunity to serve and connect with each other is worth that every time. 

There are definitely drawbacks at times, but for me, the perks of having Ben working from home have far outweighed the negative aspects. I have loved having him home and seeing him run his business!