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Over the last decade, freelancing has boomed. It’s nice that many of us can now work from home, especially those of us with families. But is it all that it’s cracked up to be?

Depending on how you view the glass (half empty or half full), working from home while raising a family may be exactly what you’ve been dreaming of. Or it could be a nightmare. You decide! Here are the pros and cons of what you should know about being a parent that freelances for a living.

Pros to Being a Freelancing Parent

You get more time with the kids

Working a full-time job outside the home means you come home exhausted only to have kids cling to you and beg for your attention. When you freelance from your couch, you can see those little cherubs all the time and take breaks to spend time having tea parties or making couch forts with them.

You lose the expense of childcare

When your littles are too little for school, someone would have to watch them while you toil away at the office. Instead of spending all your hard-earned moolah on daycare or nannies, you can tuck that right into your bank account. And even if they’re in school, you won’t have to spend a penny on aftercare until you can come pick them up. 

You set your own schedule

There’s no rushing off to sit in traffic to get to work and then counting down the hours until you can inch down the highway again. You can work around your kids’ needs, run errands or go to doctor’s appointments all without having to ask for time off. 

You work for yourself

As the boss, you get to call the shots. And you’ve got a better income potential when you’re working for yourself.

Cons to Being a Freelancing Parent

You’ll have to tune out distractions

Kids will always be kids. Some days, they’ll happily play for a while until you take a break. Other days, they’ll be all up in your face in your home office, mashing Play-Doh into your keyboard. Then again, they are cuter than any coworker could possibly be, so there you go. Still, if you have to call clients on the phone, you may have some embarrassing background chaos going on. “Mommmmmmyyyy! I pooped in the hallway again!” Hooray!

You will work more

Yes, you can work in your pajamas with coffee stains down the front. But with kids at home, you’ll be splitting your day between your needs and theirs. Which means you might be up and working at 9am and then mixing it up with the kids only to get back to work at night once they’ve gone to bed, making for a looooooong day. 

You have to learn to balance

If you want to freelance from home as a parent, you need to set aside time for work and family. Don’t let it overlap (except on rare occasions) so you won’t feel like you’re burning the candle at both ends.

All in all, being a freelancing parent is one of the best ways to have it all, but it ultimately relies on your ability to discipline yourself as much as you would your own children. Not everyone is cut out for it, but if you are, it’s a great way to make a living doing what you love with the people you love most by your side.