Keeping Your Kids Busy While You Work at Home

You know how it goes…  You just accepted a big project or JV with a short deadline and all of a sudden your kids who usually entertain themselves for hours after school turn into these little strangers that want Mommy’s constant attention. Here are some tips to help keep the kids entertained while still getting your work done.

Remind yourself that the whole reason of working from home was to spend more time with your kids. With that in mind, plan on working productively for an hour or two and then do something fun with the kids. Let them know that Mommy needs to work for a little while (and set a timer for younger kids or let older kids know how long you will work) and promise them something fun afterwards. Take them to the park, do a craft together or bake a batch of cookies. Then be sure to follow through on your promise.

Sometimes a child that keeps running to you just needs a quick hug or snuggle and some reassurance that he’s still the most important thing in the world to you. Spend those 5 or 10 minutes with him and he may be satisfied and play by himself the rest of the afternoon. Working at home with kids in the house is all about finding a balance between your job as MOM and the work you are doing from your home office.

Arrange for play dates for your kids on a regular basis. Not only do you get to enjoy a few precious hours of peace and quiet when your child is at someone else’s house, but you can also get more done when your child is busy playing with the friend that’s over for a play date. Often your only interruptions are snack time, because the two children focus on each other and not on you. Find some moms in the neighborhood or in your child’s class to trade play dates with.

Of course you can also hire a sitter on occasion or ask grandma to keep your child entertained for a few hours. If you know you are going to work in your office the entire time and don’t mind the occasional interruption, consider getting a mother’s helper. This is usually an older child that you hire for a few dollars an hour to play with your kids, fix them little snacks etc.

Last, but not least create a treasure box for those times when you can’t find a sitter or play date and no other distraction or reasoning with your kids will work. Fill it with fun activities that your children can do by themselves. Simple crafts, coloring books, special toys they don’t get to play with any other time and even a few DVDs are all good choices for the treasure box. Take the box out as a last resort and let the kids pick what they would like to do. Make it clear that they are only allowed to play with things in the treasure box under the condition that they will let you work. A word of caution – The treasure box only works if it seen as very special, so don’t overuse it or it will stop working.

So, mom, now that you have a few tricks up your sleeve, I hope you’re able to meet that deadline.

Getting Hubby On Board

One of the biggest challenges many of us face when we first start to work from home is getting our husbands on board. Many of them aren’t exactly excited about initially losing the income we used to make working outside the home. Or if you haven’t been working, hubby may be worried about getting less attention, or that he’ll have to help more with the kids and around the house (which he will).

If you know your husband won’t be too excited about you working from home, ease him into the idea. Start talking about how nice it would be to be able to be around when the kids come home from school or when they are home sick. Or, if you aren’t working, explain to him that you hate to see the whole burden of paying the bills on his shoulders –  that you’d like to contribute to the family financially. Share your reasons why this is so important for you. If your current job allows, see if you can work from home one or two days a week. Or alternatively cut back on the hours or days of your day job and start working from home on the days you’re not at the office. Not only will this give your husband a good idea of what having you work from home will be like, it’s also a good way for you to try things out.

Once you’re ready to make the plunge to working from home full-time, agree on a trial period with your husband. You work from home for a month or two so both of you can get a good feel for what things will be like – both how working from home will impact your family life and how things will work out financially. After the trial period the two of you can sit down and decide if this should be permanent, or if you will go back to a regular job. Don’t worry, though. As long as working from home doesn’t put too much of a financial strain on your family, your hubby should be perfectly fine having you at home and will love the extra attention both he and the kids get with you not being stuck in late meetings at the office.

As you start to make progress in your work at home business or job, share the joys with your husband. Show him the checks you are getting and celebrate a little with each improvement. He’ll see your excitement and will enjoy these early successes with you. It  will also make him feel proud to see what you are accomplishing. If you can, try to get him involved in your work. Ask him to help you set up your office, or have him hand out business cards or flyers. His pride and involvement will increase if he sees that he is part of your success.

Creative Childcare Solutions For WAHMs

If you are a work at home mom, you probably became one so you could spend more time with your children. However, there will most likely be times in your business when you will need to arrange for childcare. The following are some creative solutions to your childcare dilemmas.

WAHMs in direct sales are very often faced with childcare predicaments. A main portion of their business is conducting sales presentations, usually held at someone else’s home. If you are a party plan WAHM, the most obvious choice would be to schedule these presentations when your partner can watch the children, but what if your partner has an odd work schedule or you are a single parent? You can hire a local high school student to come to the party and be the “party nanny”. Check with the hostess first, but she will probably love the idea (and so will the other guests – since they won’t have to worry about getting a sitter for their children, they will be more likely to come to the party and the more guests you have, the bigger your profits!).

If you just need an occasional sitter, try setting up a “child care group” with your friends and neighbors. Each woman can designate a time frame on a certain day of the week or month to be “the sitter”. Any of the Moms in your “child care group” who need a sitter that day can drop their kids of at the “designated sitter’s” house. The children will get to play and interact with one another and each Mom can get free childcare on an “as needed basis”.

Check with your place of worship as they may offer a “Mom’s Day Out” type of program where you can drop your children off for a few hours per day, a couple times per week. This may be a free or low-cost service. Also, check with local library as they may have “story hours” where you can drop your children off and the librarians will read the children a book and after the book is read, the children can participate in a craft, game or activity.

If you just need some “quiet time” to do some work, you can hire a neighborhood teenager to come over and play with the kids while you are tucked away in your office. You will have some uninterrupted “work time”, but will still be there in case ‘something comes up’. If you have regular meetings that take you away from the house, check with friends and family to see if they can help out by watching the kids. Offer your product or service in exchange for their time. They may jump on the offer!

And don’t feel guilty if you need to put your children in daycare part-time. Yes, you may have had every intention of working at home in order to spend time with your children, but, there may be times when your business will need your total focus. By taking that time and completing your business tasks, you will be able to focus 100% on your children during family time.

Work at Home Mom Summer Survival Guide

by Sherry Frewerd

Working at home during the summer creates challenges for the WAHM. As the summer begins, there’s a lot to keep the kids entertained and give Mom time to work on her business. As the summer progresses, however, choruses of ‘Mom I’m bored’ ring out, causing otherwise mild mannered Moms to throw up their hands in complete desperation; right before they start planning an escape route.

Moms can’t escape for too long however, and kids have an uncanny knack of finding the hiding spot anyway. So what can you do to keep your business in tact during the summer months when the cherubs are effectively running the show?

How flexible are you? No, I don’t mean can you play a mean game of Twister while baking a pan of blueberry muffins, but rather, how willing or able are you to adjust your normal work at home day to meet the ever changing demands of tireless children?

Leslie Spencer, founder of http://hbwm.com , suggests using a laptop with a wireless internet connection. You’ll be a mobile mom, able to take your work anywhere your kids go.

Planning and preparation will make your life less stressful. Before summer vacation begins, do some research to find local youth programs being offered and enroll your kids. Make lists of ‘things to do’ and have ready all of the needed supplies so your school age kids can entertain themselves.

Be realistic. Come to terms with the fact that you may not be as productive during the summer, and schedule your work to make the best use of your time.

Summer challenges for WAHMs do not have to cripple your business. Find local groups and activities for your kids to participate in and remember, time with your kids will pass all too soon, and summer vacation is just one part of WAHM life.

Article Source: Lady Pens

Getting Hubby On Board

One of the biggest challenges many of us face when we first start to work from home is getting our husbands on board. Many of them aren’t exactly excited about initially losing the income we used to make working outside the home. Or if you haven’t been working, hubby may be worried about getting less attention, or that he’ll have to help more with the kids and around the house (which he will).

If you know your husband won’t be too excited about you working from home, ease him into the idea. Start talking about how nice it would be to be able to be around when the kids come home from school or when they are home sick. Or, if you aren’t working, explain to him that you hate to see the whole burden of paying the bills on his shoulders –  that you’d like to contribute to the family financially. Share your reasons why this is so important for you. If your current job allows, see if you can work from home one or two days a week. Or alternatively cut back on the hours or days of your day job and start working from home on the days you’re not at the office. Not only will this give your husband a good idea of what having you work from home will be like, it’s also a good way for you to try things out.

Once you’re ready to make the plunge to working from home full-time, agree on a trial period with your husband. You work from home for a month or two so both of you can get a good feel for what things will be like – both how working from home will impact your family life and how things will work out financially. After the trial period the two of you can sit down and decide if this should be permanent, or if you will go back to a regular job. Don’t worry, though. As long as working from home doesn’t put too much of a financial strain on your family, your hubby should be perfectly fine having you at home and will love the extra attention both he and the kids get with you not being stuck in late meetings at the office.

As you start to make progress in your work at home business or job, share the joys with your husband. Show him the checks you are getting and celebrate a little with each improvement. He’ll see your excitement and will enjoy these early successes with you. It  will also make him feel proud to see what you are accomplishing. If you can, try to get him involved in your work. Ask him to help you set up your office, or have him hand out business cards or flyers. His pride and involvement will increase if he sees that he is part of your success.

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