Guest post by Troy Alcantara

It might not still be conventional to hear or see a Work at Home Dad, but we are out there. Some chose to live in silence and a few choose to be always present in the worldwide web to promote either their advocacy or services.

Some WAHDs own businesses stationed at home or near it, but most are virtual assistants, programmers, developers, graphic artists and designers working at the comforts of their own home. This is intended for a lot of reasons but mainly, to be with their family. Some, after exhausting a lot of effort, feel that the corporate life and commuting is not really their thing. But nevertheless, it is the presence and spending more time with their family is all that matters.

Transitioning from an office job to “Work at Home” might be different and difficult for some. There will be a time that you feel you are not working at all, when in fact you do. You may feel that you might not earn as much as being a tenured staff, but you can and will. There will be times that you feel there is no structure or system in your work like in the office, but eventually you can create your own. I have been through these stages and yet I feel I there will be more challenges to come.

The best thing about being a WAHD is that, as mentioned above, you can have as much time with your family as you want. No more missing those field trips, graduation rites, Christmas presentations and more. No more reason not to do that anniversary date, birthday dinners and special occasions. Especially those with flexible working schedules, you can play with your kids in the morning or mid afternoon and work early morning or in the evening. Requesting day offs or leaves are no longer a hassle (of course, when requested ahead of time). Even with a fixed schedule, you could still see your kid to bed, perhaps make breakfast for them in the morning or send them to school. Have a weekday off instead of the weekend. The possibilities are endless and would depend on how hard you work and play at home.

I would like to meet my fellow WAHDs someday, probably there is already an organization or group out there that exists without me knowing or I might not have searched long enough. I am sure it is nothing to be ashamed of and I am sure work at home moms would fully support work at home dads as well.