"I can't get any writing done because the kids are in my face!"
"I can't surf the net for my cash programs because the kids always want to play a computer game."
"How do I run these transcription projects downtown with three kids in tow?"
These are the dilemmas an increasing number of parents face who work from home. The cost of childcare is prohibitive, especially for more than one child. With more children diagnosed with disorders such as autism and ADHD, parents want to be at home with their special needs children after school.
The Internet is bursting with home based business opportunities and freelance or outsourced work. It seems like a dream: regaining some of the income lost when one parent goes to work but still being able to have a stay at home parent for the kids.
For some parents, however, it seems like a nightmare after a few weeks. Children need attention but the work at home parent needs a few hours each day to work.
Here are some tips, arranged by age group.
Infants and Toddlers
* Take advantage of their earlier bedtimes to get some busy work done in the evenings.
* If your work involves the computer, you CAN learn to type with a toddler on your lap. Keep wandering hands busy with a toy, bottle or sippy cup.
* Children age 2 and up can spend short bursts of time playing near your workspace.
* Keep a few small toys or board books in a desk drawer and use them only for times when you are working so they seem like a novelty
* Join or start a cooperative playgroup in your neighborhood with at least six children where two mothers take all of the children once or twice per week for an hour or hour and a half on a rotating schedule.
Preschoolers, age 3-5
* Clear off a corner of your workspace for your preschooler to color in coloring books or draw pictures on plain paper. Many preschoolers love the idea of "working" along with a parent at their desk.
* Keep a drawer or box near your workspace with books, paper, crayons, colored pencils, clay, or other creative materials
* Keep dry cereal, juice boxes, individual sized packages of graham cracker snacks, goldfish crackers, canned fruit cups, and other nutritious snacks handy so your children can help themselves to their morning and afternoon snack
* Add variety to the day by allowing short videos or TV breaks, and try to place your workspace near a window where you can watch your child play outside in the yard while you work.
School Age 6 and up.
* After school or on weekends have your preteen sit near your workspace and do homework while you work. If you are doing "busy work" where you can work and converse at the same time, use the time to catch up on your child's day.
* If you need a block of uninterrupted time, set up an informal coop arrangement with other neighborhood parents to host playdates or video film festival afternoons on days off from school and reclaim some of the days formerly filled with wails of "I'm bored."
* Set up a housework/special time coop arrangement with your older children. If they complete certain household chores for you, thus freeing up more time for your work, you will spend "special time" with them on a certain activity of their choice: riding bicycles or inline skating, going out for ice cream or sharing an order of french fries, seeing a movie, or anything else they choose for which you are willing to treat them.
With some ingeniuity on your part, and cooperation on your children's part, working at home can work for the whole family.
