I love Christmas songs. And one of my favorite songs are,
“It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.” I love its vivid description of the holidays, especially the
line that says,” And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to begin again.”
But for parents who are looking at working from home with kids during winter break it's anything
but music to their ears. So, I put
together some tips to help with taking care of the kids without your work
productivity taking a backseat. Power Hours Establish power hours for you and your
children. During these hours (2 to 4
hours) you should be able to work undisturbed.
The kids can’t come to you to settle fights, ask for food and you can’t
ask them to do errands (e.g. bringing you a bottled water or the phone
charger). Also, have a way to seclude yourself to make a physical barrier. This can be fun to for the kids to create
their own workstations like sheet forts or a comfy reading corner. Have Fun Around the House When I was a child we would make
sheet forts, by closing sheets in the room doors of our hallway making a great
play place. You can take this same rule and repurpose furniture and spaces to
make a fun place within the home. For
example, you can blow up a balloon and play volleyball with your couch serving
as the net if it’s not anchored on a wall. Break for Food & Snacks Together Have a planned time
you all eat together so you can have social connectivity over a meal. Also, you can get caught up on what everyone
has been doing during their “power hours.” Limit Phone Calls Though power hours are great in theory
your kids may not be able to exist below a whisper or not bust in your space to
report an egregious act. So, minimize
the amount of live phone calls you make.
Use this time to get busy and an administrative work done. Also, use email and text messaging when
working with clients and or co-workers when possible. Consider a Co-Working Space with Onsite Childcare A co-working space may offers pop-up childcare and an out-of-home alternative. You would be able to work with office amenities with the kids onsite with their own activities. Black-Tie Babysitting
in a partnership with The Mix Co-Working and Maker Space will offer services
during the winter break. Limited seats
are available. For more information
contact Daryn DeZengotita at 214-232-8538 or daryn@themixcoworking.com All these tips may not work for you because children are snowflakes
with different temperaments and needs. In fact, the biggest tip I can impart is
to have a plan. We would love to hear
what you did or see pictures, send them to marketing@blacktiebabysitting.com. |