Who wouldn’t think being able to make an income while also staying home to raise your children wasn’t the perfect situation? While you work on your computer, your well-behaved toddler happily entertains himself at your feet. Or you can be closing that big deal over the phone with a client while also icing your child’s birthday cupcakes. Those are some of the idyllic situations everyone seems to picture when they first consider working from home. It’s perfect. You can have it all without any fuss, right?

The reality is something quite different. You sit down at the computer to work on that project, you child chooses that moment to spit up. Two minutes into that conference call, the children start fighting and the screams can be heard all the way to Tokyo.

So, as in much of life; especially when one has children, the dream isn?t quite the same as reality. What are the pitfalls of working from home and being a mother? What can happen to trip up that happy image?

Some moms hire baby sitters or nannies to mind the children while she works. This keeps the kids out of her hair and occupied at something non-dangerous. The downside is that nannies cost an arm and a leg. This can reduce mom?s earnings. Some moms have older children who watch the younger ones, but power struggles and tears can be frequent interruptions. ?Mommy, Sissy says I have to play outside, but I want to be inside.? The inevitable results tears, cries and runny noses are the result.

Children?s pets present another pitfall of working from home and being a mother. Moms who earn income from on-line auctions must rely on freight services to pick up at the house. Delivery vans are notorious for making dogs go bananas. Some work-at-home moms report the mere sound of that familiar brown van coming down the street causes their dog to bark at 105 decibels; loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss. She can?t get rid of the dog, it?s the children?s pet.

One solution to the problem of finding time to get the work done is to work at night when the kids are in bed. To do this, you will have to find a position that doesn’t have set work hours, such as bookkeeping or a position with flexible customer service calls hours. At night, the house is usually quiet and interruptions are rare. However, in order for this to work, you need to be a person who doesn’t require a lot of sleep or who can recharge with your children when they take their naps. Otherwise, you’ll be drowsy and cranky the next day when you have to put in a full day of taking care of your children.

Sometimes it is the job itself that can cause pitfalls when working from home. Employers often undervalue the work work-at-home moms do. And some even claim poor quality and reject the work just to get out of paying for the work at all. Not only that, only rarely will you find a position that offers healthcare benefits, other insurance benefits, and retirement plans. It is up to you to budget and plan for your elder years.

I saved the biggest pitfall of working from home to the last. And that’s pitfall of no adult contact. You don’t get to spend time at the water cooler chatting with coworkers about office gossip, last night’s television shows, or life in general. Your day is spent solely with your children, the bugs they found outside, that annoying kid’s shows, and your children’s sticky candy kisses. Fortunately, it’s a pitfall many moms welcome.