Downsides of working at home

I attended the townhall meeting at work. I first met up with my friend E and our other friend CD. I was teasing CD because she was starting a new position as a Claims Systems Specialist. She had also wanted to work at home but I guess she wouldn't be interested now. One downside of working at home is that I can't get promoted to a higher position. I will be stuck as a claims adjuster until I go back to the office. But that's okay with me because working at home is easier and less stressful for me while I raise my young kids.

The meeting had a Halloween theme. The first agenda was about fraud, then about the quarterly results. There was a Jeopardy game afterwards. It seems that everybody has been a fan of Jeopardy since Ken Jennings started winning game after game. He has earned over $2 million and he's still winning. After the townhall meeting, the Work-at-Home Staff had a meeting with Mike, our supervisor, and Jen. Jen and I used to be in the same unit before and she reminded me that I was her pass-up buddy. And here she is now, our Team Assistant. Talk about role reversal.

Char, one of the WAH staff and who was sitting next to me at the meeting, mentioned how her husband always complains when there's no supper ready when he comes home from work. "What does he think I do all day at home? Lay around in bed the whole day?" Char complained. I was in the same situation when I first started working at home.

When I was still working in the office, R would get home before I did. He would start supper since I wouldn't be home until 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. I used to pick up my youngest son at daycare after work. So when I started working at home, there was this adjustment period that we went through. He didn't realize that although I was home, I was working. The first couple of days there was no supper ready when he came home since I was still working and I thought that he would continue doing what he had been doing before, prepare supper. But he was expecting that it would be ready since I was home. That's when I started to ask the kids to do more around the house. I taught RG how to fry meat. Sometimes I would start preparing supper during my lunch break or cook the next day's meal at night after supper.