Being a freelancer

I was a working woman before marriage. Post marriage, I decided to stay at home and the decision was completely supported by my husband. Though we went through periods of financial crisis in the first few years of marriage, never did I want to go for a full time job. Luckily, with my qualification in foreign language, getting a part time assignment was not a problem. I enjoyed this so much so that I decided to work only as a freelancer.
I realised that being a freelancer has its own disadvantages. The family became extended and I had constant flow of visitors. But the concept of working from home was not easily understood by people then (and even now, I feel, is not taken seriously) and whenever I had guests or someone was not well in the family, I was expected to stop working even if I was midway through an assignment. No amount of talk about commitment would work. The attitude was- you are working from home only, you haven't even met the guy who is giving you the job, so why worry? The other problem was that excuse of being busy due to work doesn't work when the house is messy. A full time working woman can take the liberty of keeping the house messy, because she goes out to work. But freelancing doesn't count as real work- why can't I keep the house clean? In social gatherings, when people ask me what I do, I proudly declare I am a freelancer and the immediate reaction is a sarcastic "Oh, telemarketing, is it?" or "tupperware?" or "Amway?". When I say I am a translator they give me a surprised look-the concept of being a freelance linguist is still a rarity, I guess.
If these were the problems at the domestic front, the problems on the professional front were things like the client wanting a job done over the weekend or holidays, so that they will have the assignment ready when the office opens after the holiday. But what about us enjoying our holidays when the children are at home? Similarly, genuine excuses like power cuts or internet disconnection are not taken lightly and the client expects us to work extra because we are at home.
Despite all these, there are quite a lot of advantages. I don't get scolded by the boss, there are no performance appraisals , no conferences or meetings to attend, there are no commuting problems, no dress code and best of all, I get to spend the time with the kids, be at home and stop working whenever I am exhausted. I can eat, sleep and have coffee or tea anytime I want to. I have the best excuse to keep away from unwanted parties and from the stupid tv programs while getting paid for it. Isn't that great? Sure, I have complaints about my job, but then, who doesn't? I enjoy my job and I think it's the best way to work.