I have my dream job!

No, I am not an astronaut (sorry six year old me – that one didn’t pan out). Instead I am a Working Mom who doesn’t have to feel guilty about the “Mom” part of that title.

Ever since I became a Mom my kids have been my first priority. As everyone with kids will tell you “they grow up too fast” and given that my son is soon going to be a teenager and my daughter is now a 10 year old tween, I can attest to that statement being very true.

I had a lot of fun going to baby singing classes, toddler soccer lessons, Mommy and Me ballet and many other kids’ activities. I always knew however that I wanted to get back to work so my brain would be challenged with something a little more than just remembering the words to “Row, row, row your boat.”

Many companies love to advertise that they offer work-life balance. On further inquiry this generally means the option to work from home once a month or a couple of extra days of “personal time off”. The reality is that won’t cut it if you want to be involved in the lives of your busy kids on a day to day basis.

14 Oranges is different. This company truly understands work-life balance and should be a model to all organizations. I work from home full time – going into the office once or twice a month. Many of my coworkers have young kids, so meetings don’t get scheduled between 2.45 and 3.15pm as everyone knows this is the school run time.  I have time each morning to get my kids breakfast, pack their lunches and send them off to school. With a one minute commute time to my desk I am still easily able to start work before 9am – something that would be completely impossible if I had to drive to an office.

After school the kids make their own way home and understand that they need to let me finish off my work day. We are a sports mad family – hockey and soccer in the winter and baseball in the spring. On game days I’ll finish work early enough to get to the rink or park, and then put in a few more hours later in the evening. When the kids are sick they can stay snuggled up in bed knowing I am working just down the hall. I never have to use a vacation day to look after a sick child – something that is the norm for many working Moms.

Oh – and did I mention the cool points? As the Quality Assurance lead for an app/web development company I need a lot of devices for testing. At last count I had 11 different devices on my desk. Believe me if you are a 10 or 12 year old kid – having your Mom get the latest Apple or Android device as soon as it comes out is WAY cooler than her being an astronaut!