How to work from home with kids
HOW TO WORK FROM HOME WITH KIDS
Our lives all changed quite a bit last week and now the entire country is hopefully socially distancing with schools fully closed and a lot of parents working from home. Now, for me working from home with kids is not something new. I have done it quite a bit, but in the past, I had help from my parents and typically had at least Hudson in some form of schooling. So, these next couple of weeks are going to be intense. I eased into things today by doing a craft, baking and reading and tomorrow we will actually start tackling schoolwork. Here are my tips for how I’m going to be handling working from home with kids.
HOW TO WORK FROM HOME WITH KIDS
- Don’t stress about an early start: I tend to work really well in the morning. I have been letting the boys eat breakfast, watch cartoons, make their beds, get dressed, brush teeth and then play on their lego table from 7-9. I’m then able to get to my emails and get started on work.
- Shower at Night: In order to get the most out of my day we always shower at night. This way if I have to dry my hair, which can take a while, it’s done at night. Also then in the morning, the boys can tackle getting themselves dressed and brushing their teeth on their own.
- Stay Near By: Independent play is great, but I have two very active boys so if I’m not nearby to watch them there will be assaults and injuries on each other. What has worked really nicely for me is to forgo my home office and move my laptop to be where they are. They behave better when I’m in the same room and while I get interrupted many times it’s better than being in a different room and just hearing fighting. Since Jon is also partially working from home, today we all set up at the dining room table. It worked out really nicely.
- School Work Time: Yes, if they were at school they would be learning from 8-2:45, but not every second of every day is traditional learning. They have circle time where they talk about the day, they go to specials like gym and art, they have snack breaks, they have quiet time, they get ipads for math programs. Don’t stress if you don’t have them busy every second of every day.
- Movie Time: After 3pm/4pm I consider school time over! I still need to work through, so I’m going to be hosting movie afternoons! I will pick the movie, turn down the lights, bring out cozy blankets and make popcorn and snacks. Then they can be entertained while I work from the kitchen. I’m still close enough to watch over them and I can help with additional drinks/snacks. I find that they like to rewatch the same things over and over again and can lose interest in it. If I pick the movie they are more likely to get caught up in it and actually sit and watch.
- Reinforcements: Now is the time to bring out any old gifts you were holding back. During birthdays and holidays, they get so much so typically one or two gifts get stored in a closet. It’s time to bring them out! I have also been opening up toy closets they don’t typically go into and dragging everything out. Hudson all of a sudden remembers he has toys other than legos and to Asher, they feel all-new because he doesn’t remember playing with them!
- Take deep breathes: I’m working really hard on my patience. Most of the time all they want is me and if you think about it that’s a really nice thing. They want to tell me a story and have me watch them do something. It’s sweet and I need to remember that. I can always get my work done when they go to bed. Everyone is currently working with some weird schedules and clients will understand.
- Stick to bedtimes: I know your kids are going to feel like they have weekend days and give you a hard time about going to bed on time. I’m sticking with their normal schedule and want them in bed by 8:30. This way if I need to I can finish up any work I have before it gets too late. Don’t get me wrong sometimes I’m up working till 12:30am, but it’s the sacrifice I make to be able to work from home.
KIDS QUARANTINE HOMESCHOOLING SCHEDULE
I know some offices can be wary about letting their employees work from home, but I tackle more in a day at home then I use to when I worked in a normal corporate environment. I don’t take hour-long breaks, I’m typically up early without a commute and getting to work right away and then I sprinkle the rest throughout the day so, I’m always close by to respond to an email and give a client my attention right away.
Do you have any tips for working from home with kids? I would love to add them to the list!
MORE RESOURCES FOR HOMESCHOOLING:
Free learning resources
Free Printouts by grade -Lots of content
Mo Willems – Daily Live Doodling
Science Lessons
PINTEREST BOARD OF KIDS CRAFTS
FREE DAILY ART CLASS
Get some energy out with GO NOODLE
Get your namaste on with Cosmic Kids Yoga
BRAIN POP – Free
Learning A to Z – Free
Olivier Jeffers author of The Day the Crayons Quit does storytime at 2pm EST
JAMES DEAN author of Pete the Cat storytime at 12pm EST
Cincinnati Zoo is doing facebook lives at 3pm showcasing animals
KIDZ BOP – Dance Along Classes – Free
For Mom and Dad:
Brit and Co is offering free classes until 3/31
Planet Fitness is doing daily free online workouts
One day at a time! We can do this! If you want to chat, vent, and see what I’m up to while I’m co-working with my children than head to @camilapavone and follow along!
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ON THE BLOG
My living room is one of the rooms that evolved drastically from when we first moved one. Originally I painted the walls chocolate brown and did accents of white, blue and orange. That lasted maybe 2 years.
Our dining room sat empty for months. Okay maybe it was empty for just a handful of weeks and then we couldn’t take it anymore and put in a folding table and plastic outdoor chairs, but in my mind that was still empty.
On the main floor of our house we have a Florida room. Being that it’s a Florida room it is a considered a 3 season room, because there is no heat in the room. The previous owners used it as an indoor patio with outdoor furniture and it looked like this when we moved in.
