This post was originally published on RevealNaturalHealth.com on February 17, 2014.

A Mom’s Guilt

I often feel embarrassed telling someone I take my two year-old daughter to daycare while I stay at home. I feel guilty that I don’t want to be with my daughter all the time. I feel guilty that I pay money to have my daughter away from me 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week. Do I have a desire to change that? Not at all! But the social stigma makes me feel guilty.

Most of the mommy bloggers I follow got their start in blogging because it was something they could do from home, while their kids were home too. Some even homeschool their kids at the same time. Since I am working from home, I could have my daughter home with me, but I choose not to. I take my daughter to daycare so I can work at home, in peace.

Working at Home

I do freelance work and blogging as a work at home mom. I do my best writing when I have focused time with little distraction.

I drop my daughter off at daycare around 8am. I do any necessary shopping errands while I am out and usually get back home by 9am. My second grader gets home from school shortly after 3pm most days. This gives me about 6 hours of alone time at home each day. An hour of that is usually spent on lunch, dinner prep or some household chore.

This leaves me with about 5 hours of dedicated writing and marketing time each day. I also use this time to read and learn more about blogging. I am learning to use my allotted blocks of time to get as much work done as possible so I can fully enjoy my time with my family. This can be hard because, as a work at home mom, you never really leave your work.

During times when the kids are doing other activities or are in bed, I often work on networking with other bloggers and current and potential readers to find ways to improve my blog and gain further exposure for my blog. These activities don’t require as much focus and can be done even when I have distractions around.

Transition from Working Full Time

I used to work full time and had good paying jobs. After going through layoffs 3 times in a 6 year period, I decided it was time to make some changes.

Since I did work outside the home full-time, we had already been using daycare and have budgeted for that. My daughter (now 2) started daycare when she was 12 weeks old, after I returned to work from maternity leave. My son (now 7) was in school so he was bussed to daycare for after school care, plus he was in daycare full time during the summer months.

Once I got laid off, we decided to cancel my son’s after care since I could now be home when he got off the school bus. Therefore, we saved some money on daycare compared to what we were paying when I worked full time.

Of course we could save so much more money by canceling daycare completely. However, after doing the math, the reality of the situation is I would still need to work and bring money into the household whether we have that daycare expense or not. We have had daycare in our budget for a while now, so we are accustomed to planning for it like we do groceries, utilities and rent.

We both love Daycare!

In case I have not made it clear, I love having my daughter in daycare. While my daughter is in daycare, I get time to do work that is enjoyable for me and allows me to make money from home. I love being a work at home mom! This arrangement also allows me to see my kids more than I did when I worked full time, and that makes me a much happier mommy!

My daughter also loves daycare!

• She gets to do crafts that she probably wouldn’t get to do at home.
• She gets to interact with kids at her own age and skill level.
• Her teachers truly care about her and celebrate her successes.
• She thrives on having a structure and knowing what to expect (just like I do!).

Your turn!

I know a lot of my readers are moms and bloggers, so I am curious to know: Do you send your young kids to daycare so you can get work done at home? If so, what helped you make that decision?

If you don’t use daycare options, what advice do you have for being more productive while your kids are at home?