work at home with children

One of my challenges I faced as a work at home mom is the ability to balance my time between work and spending time with my boy. I believe those of you who work from home can understand how it's like to manage a home office with children around.

There are some ideas you can adopt while working from home with your little children:

1) Plan your time

One of the best things to do as a work at home mom is to plan your time and to-do list. Be productive during those hours where your children are off to playschool or kindy. And if they are not doing any of the above, dedicate yourself to full concentration of your work when your child is asleep. Be realistic and don't try to do too much.

2) Include your child in your home office

Recently, I set up a little work area for Clayton so that he can work along side with me in the home office. While I continue with my online home business, he will be playing on the computer and I can participate in the activities too. Perhaps you can set up a space for your child to doodle, draw, paint, read a book or some quiet activities. The whole area of doing that in the home office is that you get to spend quality time with your child and keep an eye on him or her.

3) Get your child to participate in chores

Spending time with your children should not be limited to play time. You can involve your child in some home chores or get him/her to help clean up or organize your home office. Yesterday, Clayton tried to help fix our broken bed with DH with his set of industrial clamps and plastic saw. It was amusing to see that he was trying to be 'Handy Manny'.

4) Put on an educational program

I'm pretty sure that alot of work at home moms tend to use this method to occupy the junior in the home office. While there are tonnes of good quality educational video shows out there that can keep your children busy, make sure you set boundaries for them. Sometimes I tend to overdo this when I have to give full attention to my home business. You should keep a constant eye of your children even when an educational program is on. Basically, don't let the TV become your babysitter. Don't overuse it. I'm seriously guilty of this at times.

Keep in mind that the most important reason you are working from home is that you can spend more time with your children. Plan your time well as a work at home mom and don't forget to include play-time with your children as part of your home business schedule.