Thursday, February 23, 2006

Working at home with kids

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Today I have been giving a lot of thought to one area of working at home that is a little odd. 

Typically, we want to work from home so we can stay home with our kids.  That is the ideal situation.  Over the past week though I have been working really hard to get my blogs redesigned and have needed to spend a lot of hours with them.  While I have been so busy Katie has been left pretty much to entertain herself.  Which translates into video games and tv since the weather is too cold to be outside.  Of course this is not really fun for her so she wants me to stop working and play every ten minutes and I have to say give me a few more minutes to finish up.  

So I stop and play and then have to try to pick up where I left off.  As this has been going on I remembered a thread in a message board where someone asked about working at home and having your kids in daycare.  At the time I thought what a silly idea that is!  We work at home so we can BE there with the kids. 

Here are my thoughts on it now.  I love being here and having the special moments.  I love when she first wakes up and cuddles on the couch with me to watch the weather (her favorite channel these days).  I love when she learns something new and I am here to see it.  I love fixing her breakfast and lunch.  I love that I CAN take a break to play catch or baby dolls. 

I don't like when I am deeply focused on a project and have to stop to see what she needs or to get interrupted all the time. 

So obviously the things I love outweigh the things that I don't like but I can now see the point of some moms putting their kids in daycare so they can get some work done.  It is also probably a very nice break for their kids to have other kids to play with and things to do. 

For me, I will continue setting a time limit on work and a time limit on fun and I will continue taking breaks to "play". 

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is difficult to get into a routine. My twins will be 13 very soon and although it's been a real pleasure being here if the school calls when they are sick -- it's been a real struggle because it seems I neglected them in other areas just so I could have the luxury of "staying at home."

It really is a struggle - I truly believe work from home mom's work twice as hard and twice as long just to have that benefit.

Good luck with your own challenges.

Connie said...

Thanks Gayla, I am willing to bet your kids haven't been neglected in any way. I think as moms we feel we have to be "super" in every area and aspect. It just ins't possible whether we are at home or working outside the home. I believe working at home gives us a huge advantage over working outside the home. If the school does call, we can stop what we are doing and not have to explain our absence to anyone, we don't lose pay and feel that frustration. We just pick our kids up, tuck them in with some hot soup and go back to work. We might have to say "I can't play right now" but we can also say "I will take a break in one hour and then we will play for twenty minutes" we couldn't say that if we were outside the home. If we have to work and contribute to the income I would rather do it here. We feel we are neglectful in some areas because we are great moms and want to do it all. Someday, somewhere, some mom will figure out how to make it ALL happen! LOL