WFH with kids.

9 Comments

1. AnonymousJanuary 9,2023 at 9:45PM UTC

   You get up early and work after the kids are winding down or asleep. Those are you magic hours to organize, plan and declutter. If you stay on top of it you'd be surprised at how little time it takes.

   Do you have a partner to help our, if so try abd divide and conquer house chores, child care and have a regular a schedule of organization both home and work. I spend 20 minutes first thing and last thing to organize, manage and declutter.

2. AnonymousJanuary 10,2023 at 1:52AM UTC

   To simply put it you either work or care for kids you cannot do both at the same time As long as you do both you will remain unorganized, you will not get ahead and it could be considered theft of company time. Work when the kids are not home or sleeping and you may find yourself in a more positive position.

3. AnonymousJanuary 10,2023 at 2:37PM UTC

   If you are working from home, you are working - you are not taking care of kids. You need to find a mother's helper, a babysitter, a daycare, etc. What you are essentially doing is stealing from your employers.

4. CJB62January 12,2023 at 2:03PM UTC

   Before more people criticize, not sure if poster works for herself or an employer.

   To the original poster - without knowing age of your children- are the in school, young enough to still nap, etc and the nature of the work that you do at home, hard to give you great advice.

   However, planners and calendars can be helpful for keeping track of tasks and blocking out time to complete things around your children’s schedule or, if you have a spouse/partner, when they are available to care for the kids.

5. AnonymousJanuary 12,2023 at 2:26PM UTC

   You don't say how old your kids are. Unless they are old enough to basically fend for themselves - make their own breakfast or lunch, take care of their daily needs, I think you need to do the same thing you would do if you going to the office - you need some sort of daycare assistance. You need to either bring someone into your home to care for them during your workday (you can still see them on a break or at lunch) or you need to find a daycare, preschool, etc. where they can go while you work. You can't be a mom and caregiver and an employee (either of another company or your own) and get it all done. You have to think of your work time as work time and your parenting time as parenting time - they can't overlap as you won't be overly successful at either in that event. As a manager of people, we've had to tell people to get daycare of some sort. You'll be more successful at both if you get help - either from someone who comes in or you find a place for your kids to go during the day. Kids like to be around others - they learn from them. Structure is also good - story time, nap time, craft time, or even reading and math skills depending on the age (I'm making the assumption they are younger than school age based on your comments). You can also hopefully (have a discussion with your employer if you aren't self-employed) flex your hours some - get some work in early or after bed time if you want to limit the time they are not being cared for by you. When I had littles if they were sick and couldn't go to daycare, I would work from home but for any time I spent with them - whether feeding or holding or caring for them in some way, I deducted that time from the hours worked - so if I spent from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm working off and on but the time caring for kids during that timeframe added up to 4 hours then I would deduct that 4 hours from the time worked and call it PTO or whatever "benefit" is applicable at your employer.

6. Sabrina CortesJanuary 12,2023 at 3:35PM UTC

   Having a structured routine when kids are little is great because it gives them a sense of security and knowing what to expect throughout their day. So, if you have small children, you might want to set specific times for them and yourself. On the otherandd, if your kids are older, you can give them jobs and activities to do independently.

   I have an 8yo little boy, and he's very independent. I also homeschoolhimim, and he gets bored eaquicklyith repetitive work. He's so smart and picks up things easily. It took a bit of playing with different curriculums, but I learned that having a relaxed approach to school is best for him and our family. This means that I view all life as school and learning and we supplement that with his workbooks. He learns so much because I make most of our meals and baked goods from scratch, and he helps me tend the chickens too. In the warm weather, he helps me in the garden.

   We have a routine, but I allow for some flexibility because we have a lot going on during the day, especially on days when my husband comes home for lunch on his lunch break. (lol)

   I also work in the evening, which is how I am able to take care of my family and animals during the day.

   When I have calls or meetings, my son knows that he cannot interrupt me and that I'll get whatever he needs or answer his questions when I'm finished. Sometimes he still interrupts, but that's not too often. If your kids are younger and you have meetings, maybe you can have a neighbor come watch them or save a new-ish toy to give them to explore and keep them entertained. Or could the meeting be scheduled during their nap time?

   I hope some of this helps. You're doing the best you can, give yourself some grace and time to figure out what works best for you and your children.

7. Mary PoolJanuary 12,2023 at 4:03PM UTC

   One of the best things I ever did was hire a mother's helper. A local junior high student. The difference that was made was indescribable. It worked out well for all of us. The junior high student received an income, my kids adored her, and I got to work in peace while she was there.

8. AnonymousJanuary 13,2023 at 2:39PM UTC

   If you're working from home, then it's tough to have the additional job of childcare on top of that. I suggest either recruiting your spouse or other family member to help with childcare, hiring someone to help, or else putting your kids in a childcare program.

9. IntentionGirl299847January 13,2023 at 8:31PM UTC

   I agree that working from home is work. Hire a sitter or have your kids go to daycare, Working from home means regular set hours for your work, the same as if you were in an office.