My youngest son starts the 5th grade on Monday. Yesterday was packet Pickup Day where the parents sign all the forms and pay all class party fees, PTA fees and buy spirit wear. They also have open house so that you can see where the class is and meet the teacher. It’s back to school time!

Since I have been a work at home dad for some time, I use these activities as reminders about how lucky I am. Most of the other parents are worried, harried and look like they rushed there from work. They act like they are there for as little time as possible so they can rush back to work. They are there to have ‘quality’ time with their kids so they can put ‘quantity’ time in at work.

I go there in my ‘summer business casual’ which are usually cargo shorts, a t shirt and tennis shoes. I put my attention on my son and spend as much time as he wants. Because I spend quantity time with him, we end up with lots of quality time. These are times you can’t schedule into your life.

I learned a long time ago, people have it backwards. They should spend quality time at work so that they can spend quantity time with the people they love.

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With lifestyle freedom, I have been able to have an “endless summer” with my kids. I work a few hours per day from my home and I get to pick when. Because of that, I have been spending a lot of time with the ones I love.

We have gone to movies, built Lego kits, made stop action movies, and generally joked around. I keep getting pleasantly surprised by their intelligence, quick wit and humor.

I keep reminding myself how lucky I am. Most parents of grown children lament that they didn’t spend as much time as they wanted and that the kids grew up so fast.

My oldest is starting as a high school junior next week. I have two short years to enjoy him before he goes off to college. I intend to make the most of it. Because I work from home, I can.

Technorati Tags: endless summer, spending time with loved ones, work from home

In recent times, families have come under more stress than ever before. The parents of today are likely to be the sandwich generation – looking after aging parents as well as their children. Employers are making even more demands with employees given cell phones, email and other ways to keep in touch after hours.

As a result of all of these pressures, usually it’s the kids that lose. They lose time with their parents. They lose out on activities because of a lack of a method of getting there. They lose out on love.

I read a somewhat sad commentary on the state of things. One working mother made the statement, “My son has my cell phone number, he can call me any time.” My thought was, “Why should he have to?”

I have enjoyed this summer. I have spent most of it with my sons doing what they want to do. I have helped create about 20 stop action movies so far with my 10 year old. I have discovered and been amazed at his intelligence, creativity and humor in coming up with movie ideas. We still have about three weeks before school starts.

I would never have had the opportunity to have this kind of experience and relationship had I gone somewhere else to work. They are only this age once in life. I’m glad I’m not missing it.

How do I enjoy this lifestyle freedom, I work from home with my own home based business. It’s such a blessing.

Technorati Tags: aging parents, home based business, kids, lifestyle freedom, sandwich generation, work from home

Staycation is a new word that has entered our vocabulary. It’s where you can’t afford to go anywhere for vacation. I’m sorry, but I believe I deserve better.

The word became a staple in this new era of gas prices around $4 per gallon. These prices are really cutting into people’s budget. It’s the first time I have ever seen gas prices dramatically affect how people drive.

When you work for someone else, you get a double whammy with this situation. First, you have a ceiling on what you receive. In my 20 years of working for someone else, I did not have a real say in the raises I got. They were either budgeted at the beginning of the fiscal year or they were on a schedule.

The rising cost of commuting plus all the price increases of all the food and other goods that are affected by fuel prices can put a real squeeze on a family budget.

The frightening vision I receive from this scenario is someone who is trapped in a room with rising water.

My answer to this is to work for myself in my home based business. The lifestyle freedom that this has enabled me allows me to minimize the problems with rising prices. To get more income, I just work a little more. The concept of staycation doesn’t even occur to me.

Technorati Tags: family budget, gas prices, home based business, lifestyle freedom, staycation, vacation, work for myself