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There was a time when I thought working from home with kids was the unattainable unicorn of the WFH life. Start a group with other parents in which you take turns watching the kids in order to give each person a turn to take a break. If you are on a phone call and your child is screaming, apologize and ask if you can call back later. Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.
This gave me time to bring my laptop into the bathroom to get some work done while I watched her play. There is just something about being outside, breathing fresh air and soaking up some vitamin D that makes everything seem a bit more manageable. This helps to provide focus and a bit of structure, 2 things that can be lacking when trying to entertain a toddler at home. Personally, this is one aspect of working at home without childcare that I can definitely improve on. You can not keep the kitchen spotless or prevent the baby from drawing all over her tummy or keep every toy contained to the playroom AND meet every deadline and answer every email.
How To Create The Perfect Kids Playroom
And this may sound crazy, but you are going to have to get used to doing an hour of work here and an hour of work there. The days of working several hours in a row are just gone. Take this into consideration when making your to-do list. It is a very realistic expectation to assume you won’t get EVERY task done that day. Keep a running tab of what tasks are the highest priority and reevaluate frequently throughout the day.
It may be that you have to surrender extra time to your toddler and do more work in the evening. Ask family or friends if they can help out, or offer a babysitting circle where you each take turns to help each other out. It can be helpful to have a little time when you get total peace and quiet. Try to add the television to your normal routine so that your toddler knows there are limits placed on it if you need to do that. Try adding houseplants, motivational prints on the wall and a good desk organiser and planner to help you. Add in a toddler running around at your feet and there are a lot of distractions working against you.
Accept a Non-Pinterest Perfect House
One is to make sure your work schedule fits within their routine, and another is to be mindful of how long you’re working. While a meal service provides your family with dinner, you can also invest in time-saving kitchen appliances and dedicate time to meal preparation to save time in the long term. Hired help, whether full-time or for a few hours each week, enables you to dedicate time to get your work done. When working from home with a toddler, independent play is a great way to have a block of time to get work done. When working from home, having non-traditional hours is a great way to get strategic with the work day. Whether that’s getting up before everyone else or staying up a little later and skipping out on your favorite television shows.
I’ve worked from home since 2014 and during those years, I’ve learned several important things that helped me work from home with a toddler .
Hi! I’m Carly the Mommy –
During this quality time, let your toddler lead the activities too. This will give them an additional win, which will help them feel even more content in the moments when you can't play. Being able to be near your child is a major perk to having a home office, but most moms find that they need an extra set of capable hands to get work done. You can’t meet every deadline during naptime, and there’ll be days when your critter is bouncing off the walls as a client is calling. In fact, have a backup caregiver at the ready (Grandma or a drop-in daycare center) in case your sitter calls in sick. I mentioned above that teaching your baby how to play independently would be a key to your success while working from home.
Try to factor in play time for you and your child every single day. This is time when you put down all of your screens, put your phone on silent and just be with them. In order for you to get on with work while your toddler is under the same roof, you need to encourage independent play. It won’t be like this forever, and while he’s getting more TV time than normal, he’s still getting plenty of old-fashioned book reading, coloring, and exercise. This goes along with lowering your standards, and it might not be the most popular thing, but the truth is that right now when my toddler says “screen time,” I say, “how much?
Optimise Storage Space
If you have to clean during the day try adding tidy up time breaks to your routine. Taking a few minutes to load the dishwasher, or having your toddler help empty the dryer are small tasks that will help your home stay functional throughout the work day. If you’re a single mom working from home with a toddler please know, your value is not found in the cleanliness of your home. Where other parents have a partner of some kind, it is solely your responsibility to care for, provide for, and keep your tiny humans alive.
And if you’re anything like me, you are trying to keep your toddler away from screen time right now. This makes things even more difficult as there is no television/iPad/cell phone babysitter. If you have managed to get your toddler playing happily on their own or napping, then get yourself focused on work and make the most of this time. I felt like I was going to get “caught” doing something I shouldn’t be doing, when in reality, I had to take care of my kids. But working at home with the kids means that being 100 percent present for anything just isn’t realistic. I’ve accepted that my toddler will have more screen time than I’d like , and I’ve accepted that I’ll be slower responding to email than I’d like.
That’s why it’s important to optimise the storage space you have to encourage your kids to tidy away after themselves and make it easy for them to do this. Too much screen time at a young age can inhibit a child’s ability to engage with the world and learn. Sometimes it can be hard to get kids to engage in pretend play on their own, so you may have to play with them for a bit to get them started. Try to regularly carve out some time for yourself in the week, anddon’t feel guilty doing it.Like on an airplane it’s important to put on your mask before helping others. Dedicated momma time is you putting on your mask first.
Though your kids are small, talk to them and try to explain to them the overall situation. Explain to them the reason why you all should stay indoors, and how it can help them stay safe. As a parent, make sure that you keep a sufficient amount of time for your child so that you can spend quality time with them after your workday is over.
But they are also adorable, curious, fun and oh so lovable. Your why will help you to get through those difficult days when, despite all of the scheduling, planning, and meal prep, things just aren’t working out. When you’re throwing your hands in the air and literally asking out loud “why am I doing this to myself,” make sure you know your why. Remind yourself why you are juggling parenthood, work, and life. They can make doing anything a challenge — whether it’s getting dressed, trying to leave the house, or even going to the bathroom.
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