Working mom’s viral video nails why remote work is so important for mothers

Bonnie Dilber’s morning started like many of our mornings can start out as moms. A sick kid needing to stay home from school and needing medicine and juice from the store. Her three year old had a nasty cold, and she shared in her now viral video on TikTok how much she loves the company she works for because she was able to take care of her sick kid by keeping them home while she worked, order medicine, and pick up said medicine and juice, with no questions asked by her employer. No approvals. No “permission.”

Dilber said in the video that the company she works for is remote and asynchronous, which is so helpful for parents—and moms in particular. As long as her work gets done and she meets her deadlines and other responsibilities, they don’t care. And the fact that she’s thankful for these things makes her incredulous that it’s something “special” that her company does, and it’s not just a normal thing for most employers.

“There are all sorts of awesome workplace benefits, but none trump flexibility and a supportive culture that allows employees to be people first,” Dilber said in the caption. 

“There is such a luxury to being able to work from the couch and be able to hang out with my sick kiddo, or be able to hop in my car and run a quick errand without having to talk to anyone and get approval for it,” she said. “Being able to get my work done without having to take a sick day, because I have a sick child,” she added. 

“This is the kind of stuff that actually holds a lot of women back in the workplace,” Dilber said. “Like so many women are not able to progress professionally because so many of their employers are worried they’re going to miss too much work for stuff like this, or the culture isn’t created so they can balance both.”

And she correctly points out that in most families, it is the man who gets to go to work even if there is a sick child, and it is the mom who is chosen to stay home with the sick child and take off work from her career, to take care of the kids. 

This is why many moms are stepping up and speaking out against taking advice from men when it comes to career development. Our paths and plights are just not the same.

“Finding a job that allows you to do both is a huge luxury,” Dilber concluded. “It really shouldn’t be, but it is.”

A version of this story was originally published on Jan. 11, 2024. It has been updated.