Being a work-from-home mom means you’re an ace at prioritization, you kill it at multitasking, and you’re a scheduling guru. But it also means leaning on stay-at-home mom pals, getting dressed from the waist up for video calls (you know you’ve done it!), and letting your kids veg out to more movies than you care to admit. We get it! So we asked some of the baddest #mombosses out there to share their guiltiest confessions, because we’re all just trying to do the best job possible—and, frankly, we can all use a laugh!
“I have so many funny stories related to my failed attempts at trying to work and mother, but the best one is when I logged in to join a web conference while I was pumping and accidentally had my webcam on. Thankfully, I was the first person to join the call and disabled the camera before anybody else logged in. It had the makings of very embarrassing moment though!” —Robyn Racheotes, founder of A Modest Life blog
“My son was a little older—grade school—and the phone rang. A celebrity was on the line and asked to speak to me (my son was not supposed to answer my business phone ever—not sure why he did). He politely told this person that ‘I was in the potty and couldn’t come to the phone.’ I heard all of this from the other room. Needless to say, my son and I had to have another chat about mom’s business phone being off-limits.” —Elizabeth Borsting, founder of E/B Public Relations and the brains behind Dine Out Long Beach restaurant week
“I 'hide' from my children sometimes when I'm working from home. If I’m on a call when my nanny brings my kids home, I’ll turn off the bedroom light, turn on the fan for white noise, and take my call in the bathroom (so they think I'm out).” —Leslie Forde, business development at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and self-care advocate at Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs
“My go-to when things are hectic is ordering pizza for dinner. It's a treat and my kids love it. One day I'd been particularly swamped and forgot to grocery shop. So breakfast was leftover pizza. My kids praised me all day as the Queen of Breakfast. They bragged to everyone we saw that they had cold pizza for breakfast. Of course they had no clue that I was feeling guilty for not preparing their usual free-range eggs and organic toast with kefir!” —author and blogger Heather D. Nelson
“I’ve left my son with a friend who is a stay-at-home mom so I could meet with potential clients at their place of business, because you can't do it all—and especially not with a baby in tow.” —Melissa Toledo, founder of Bon Vivant PR
“Sometimes meetings get scheduled last minute and I have to bring my toddler with me. I recently had a meeting at a really cool letterpress studio, where I discovered that large machinery and a very curious toddler are not a great mix! My daughter wanted to touch all of the letterpress machines, which is obviously not allowed. Trying to chase a toddler while pitching a flower-arranging event is no easy feat! I left the meeting with the studio interested in an event and feeling like superwoman!” —Charlotte Russell, Alice’s Table Exec
“I've most definitely found a quiet place and taken conference calls while at the pool or my favorite lunch spot. In my opinion, as long as the work gets done to the high standards that I set for myself and that my clients expect, it doesn't matter where it gets done!” —Liza Grando, president of The Moss-Tucker Group public-relations firm
“I’ve let my son play hooky from school more times than I can count! We call them Breakfast at Tiffany's days. When I knew I had a day during the week that I could take off or would have a light workload, I'd ask my son ahead of time if he had anything important at school that day, such as a test or something he wanted to be there for. If the answer was no, that was a Breakfast at Tiffany's day—he'd skip school and we'd make a day of trying new things and exploring the city. At first, I felt selfish and like I might be setting a bad example, but I quickly grew out of that. And of course, we always made sure his grades were up to par (at one point he even flew through two grades in one school year). Pro tip: Although school attendance requirements vary, absolutely no school anywhere requires that kids attend 100% of their classes. With a little parental gymnastics, this can be adapted to your family needs. And it's totally worth it.” —marketing and communications specialist Danica Niki Radisic
“I’ve had terrible ‘new-mom brain’ and find myself forgetting anything and everything if I don't write it down! I use the app TeuxDeux to set myself reminders to do even the most simple things like ‘take the laundry out of the dryer.'” —Kate van Geldern, blogger behind Domestikated Life
“One day I got dressed—but only from the waist up. I wasn't feeling well and just needed to get through a video conference call. It was a struggle but no one ever knew. I'm not sure why I didn't just tell them I wasn't feeling well, but I didn't want anyone thinking I was being lazy and not working!” —Ellie Hirsch, founder of Mommy Masters
“One day, mid-morning, my internet crashed. I was anxiously waiting for it to get restored, but I was told it would take about 45 minutes. You know what I used those 45 minutes for? I took a nice long bubble bath! Now that is a perk of working from home.” —Stacy Gatto, co-founder of styling firm First Seven Consulting
“My kids watch way more screen time than I care to admit. Use their tablet, Netflix, or the Disney channel to your advantage. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to meet your deadlines!” —Larisha Campbell, who runs the blog We’re Parents with her husband
If you're looking for a fun, flexible job, consider becoming an Alice's Table Exec and hosting flower-arranging classes on your own time in your own town!
