Can I put you on hold?

There are many perks to working from home. For me “business dressy” means I have on a matching pajama top and bottom. If I'm wearing business casual, I don’t answer the door unless it’s Publisher’s Clearing House. And they never ring! I don’t have to listen to office gossip, and I can pretty much take a break whenever I want.

There are some drawbacks. I’ll illustrate one for you. Friday I had an appointment at 11:30 to conduct a phone interview with two men who own a flooring store. When I called, they were busy and said they’d call me back. Twenty minutes later (and well into my daughter’s show on PBS Kids) they called me. The clock was ticking. Ten minutes into the conversation, I heard the television click off and my four-year-old “assistant” appeared at my elbow. “I need to poop,” she said, not at all quietly. I furiously gestured toward the bathroom, not ten feet away and she ambled over to it.

A few minutes later, she announced, “I’m done!” The problem was the men on the other end of the line were still chatting. I ignored her for a minute and then she announced, “I made plunkies!” which she kept repeating until I came to her rescue. I searched in vain for the “mute” button on my phone and ended up trying to cover the receiver with my finger. Finally I managed to wipe her and pull her from the toilet without having to ask for a potty-break from my clients.

Before she left the bathroom—being the polite, well-bred child she isn’t—she turned and flushed. Loudly. At this point, I had to say something. So, I announced to the men I was interviewing, “Sorry, guys, but that was not my flush you just heard. It was my daughter.” They laughed good naturedly and said they had kids too. Somehow I doubt they ever have to interrupt a conference call to wipe someone else’s bottom. Just one of the perks I enjoy, working from home.