Question for the Work at Home Moms?

Question

A question specifically for moms who either work for an employer, just from their home office, or those who run their own business:

How to you stay organized and focused with work while attending to your children?

I am expecting our second child late summer and have my toddler daughter in daycare. Two kids in daycare full time is not going to work for us. Frankly I'd like to stay home with her but financially can't- that's another story. So...my employer really values me, that is not a concern for me, and I believe that he would allow me to have a schedule flexible enough to work maybe 2 days in the office and work the rest from home. This would be so ideal! But, I don't feel comfortable proposing this, unless I know that it's realistic to handle between 12-24 hours a week at home while taking care of the kids myself.

Does anyone else do this, and how have you been able to make it work for you?

Thanks for all of the answers.
I work in the marketing department and I do have to make and accept calls but I much prefer to do things via email and my vendors and other contacts know that. I would not be dealing with anyone who would be offended by hearing children in the background but I'd still want to avoid it. Most of what I do is reseach on the internet and also a lot of copywriting, analysis etc.

Thanks for all of the answers.
I work in the marketing department of our company and I do have to make and accept calls but I much prefer to do things via email and my vendors and other contacts know that. I would not be dealing with anyone who would be offended by hearing children in the background but I'd still want to avoid it. Most of what I do is reseach on the internet and also a lot of copywriting, analysis etc.

sorry for the duplicate details!

Answer 1

That depends on what kind of work you have to do. If you're work includes lots of telephone calls, be prepared for the "mommy" calls in the background. Toddlers don't grasp the meaning of "quiet I'm on the phone." Try to save the phone calls to when the little ones are napping.
If most of your work is just paper work then here is the steps I took to manage my job with 6 kids underfoot when I had to work from home due to injuries.
1) Get up at least an hour before the kids to have time to type while their still asleep.
2) Take time to eat breakfast with them then give them fun activaties to do. Small children love to copy their parent and will sit for short times "typing" like mommie.
3) At nap time, you'll get a lot done then as mine would sleep for a at least a couple of hours
.4) After their nap, play with them, eat lunch etc. By then they will be ready to play alone or watch tv and you get more done. Be prepared for frequent breaks to give your children the attention the will expect from you. The best thing is being able to stop and go to the store or whatever and have your children with you. Do you have friends who are moms? Set up playdate times with those moms to give you a couple hours to work worry free. Offer to keep her children so she can get out in exchange. I hope this helps you decide.

Answer 2

I will tell you honestly, it is pretty difficult. I struggle to find balance between work time and kid time, as well as household duties that must be done in order to maintain a clean home. It will really depend on what you need to do for your employer. Is it alot of computer work? That is much different than having to be on the phone alot. Can you work any hour of the day, including naptime and after the children have gone to bed or does it have to be done during typical work hours (8-5)? Can you get your husband to help a little more when he is there (fixing dinner, tending to baths, etc)? Is there a neighbor or friend that could come help you for a little while during the day?

Having two children can be a challenge anyway, much less add the additional duties of working from home. Hope all works out!

Answer 3

Do you have to take or make business calls during the day?
That would be the major decision maker for me as an employer.
You cannot stay professional while your toddler is screaming in the background.
Now if you main job is paperwork or data entry I can't see any problem with that. To avoid paying for daycare you could work at night while your husband is watching the children.
Word to the wise however, you should assure your boss that you would maintain a schedule just as though you were in the office.
Write your schedule out for him. Advise him that your office will be secluded away from the children. Then write out how you will maintain this schedule even though your children are at home--example: 9 am to noon: children are napping and my mother will be at my home to tend them during that time. Anything that will assure him that you will be devoting specific time to the job and child care will not interfere with it.
Good luck!

Answer 4

I think you should explain to your employer the situation with a plan in mind. I've seen a lot of moms that find it cheaper to higher a sitter to stay home with 2 kids as opposed to having the both in daycare.
Maybe you can do that? Or get someone to come watch the kids from 1-6 pm and go to the office during those times and work from homes in the morning.
My office set me up with a lap top at the end of my pregnancy and it worked out well. Went in for 2 days a week and went to the office three.
Where there's a will, there's a way...

Answer 5

What kind of work do you do? I'm going to start working from home, but there is NO WAY I can do that with 2 kids at home. I'm only working when my husband is home, or I have care in place. I'm on the phone a lot though.

You can bet your boss will have a lot of questions. My former place of employment allowed working from home, but shut me out b/c I have 2 small kids. And I was their #1 sales person. Be prepared for the big NO.

Good luck!

Answer 6

I have 2 kids and One on the way. I have tried everything for working at home. It has worked out just fine with my kids as well. The people I worked for last year let me start off with 2 days per week so they could see I could work at home. I would just mention it. It can't hurt to ask.

Answer 7

well you need to make sure you can handle both because it's alot to take care of i have four children and i work in my home and outside of my home but you have to no before saying yes that you can do it the number one thing is your gonna have to set a nap time for them so when there down you have that time to do your work and what time you have left after you can catch up on mommy time moms are the stars they just need a little engorging and someone to let them no they can do it so honey just go to your boss and say (Dave) exp can we talk for a min he'll say yes just say well it's becoming a little stressful for me to stay away from the children can i please work 2 days in the office and the rest at home he might say no he might say yes you'll never no if you don't ask ......

Answer 8

I don't know but I would love to work from home. Hope everything works out.

Answer 9

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