One major challenge for home – based professionals who are also stay at home parents of young children is finding time to work. It is not always easy, but there are a few things that you can try to see if they work for your particular child or children and your unique family situation. Some of these are things that I have tried, and some are not. If you have other ways that you have found to secure additional work time for yourself, please feel free to share – I would love to hear about it.
As a stay – at- home parent, your duties more than likely include taking care of your child or children as well as keeping your home neat, the fridge and pantry full, and other such things. It can seem daunting to attempt household chores while your little one is awake. Of course, if you save your chores until naptime or after the children are sleeping, you end up using some of the time that you could be working. What’s a parent to do?
You may be able to involve your children in one or more household chores. Grocery shopping is probably the easiest task to accomplish with the little ones in tow, as long as you can figure out what keeps your child or children happy during the shopping trip. For my son, when he was an infant he liked to be worn in a sling or carrier. As he got older and could sit in the cart, I realized that if I purchased a piece of fruit or a bagel as soon as we got to the store and gave it to him to munch on as we shopped, he really liked that.
At home, when my son was an infant I would wear him in a sling or carrier as I did the housework. He loved being close to me and I was able to move around and get things done. Once he learned to walk and got too big to be carried, he would follow me to the laundry room and watch as I put it into the machine. I put in the soap and held him up so he could “help” me push the buttons. When I did the dishes, he used to like to play with his toys on the kitchen floor. One day, he wanted to be up at the sink. I placed a towel on the floor and put a chair next to me for him to stand on, all the while wondering if this experiment would result in disaster. Some water got on the floor (hence the towel) but for the most part he listened to instructions. He had a blast and now, I always do the dishes with my “dish buddy”.
The latest thing that I have discovered that we can do as a team is cleaning the floors. We have a small vacuum cleaner, and if I sweep the dirt into piles he loves to vacuum it up. I never did chores as a kid, so every time we try a new chore and he likes it I am amazed. Of course, I am lucky that he enjoys these things right now because I realize that there may be a time when he is less enthused by housework and I’ll have to reevaluate my game plan.
Photo by cohdra on morguefile.com.