I work in the software industry. During Covid, much of this industry transitioned to working from home. For me it was a dream come true. I love being in the other room and I can pop-out of the office at regular intervals to give my spouse a kiss and do little chores to help with meals, get materials off of the high shelves, and any other thing that I could help with.

Well, life has a way of throwing curve balls at you! My son separated from his wife and moved back into our home with a toddler that we have every other week. I didn’t understand how much harder it could be trying to juggle work and a toddler at the same time. But we learned a lot very quickly. The most important thing that my wife and I learned is that communication is key. We let each other know that we can count on each other to take over when things get too out of control and that neither of us is the primary care taker, we take turns.

Here are some general rules that just make things run smoother:

1. Set expectations: let your children (the ones that are old enough to understand) know when you can’t be interrupted. Our toddler grandson couldn’t care less what our expectations are, but my spouse understands and knows the door has to close for certain meetings and before certain deadlines. A planner can do wonders for that kind of communication! https://amzn.to/3tllX0B

2. Work as a partnership. Set hours that you can trade off with your spouse to get that uninterrupted time. Or find some selective hours to hire a baby sitter. Trading babysitting with a neighbor can have benefits here. I appreciate that

3. Fit in work-time at small increments. Nap time, quiet time, or even bath time can be small increments of time that I can type out a quick message on my phone and still keep the work plate spinning. I plan to do some of the back-and-forth email or text when I’m not at the desk. There are things that I can do when our toddler is playing in the back yard and I can look between his activities and the phone without dropping either of those things.

4. Map out your days. It is a really good thing to keep nap time, physical activity time, and even some quiet or calming down time on a schedule. Your child will begin to expect certain things to happen during specific times. That helps to prevent unnecessary stress from them not knowing what to expect.

5. Strategically use technology. We have a learning time where our grandson watches “Songs for Littles”. This program is found on YouTube and can be streamed on our television or on a computer screen.

I have streamed Pandora with children’s songs, or got Alexa to play a children’s song channel in the background and set my personal pictures playing in a slide show.

These methods can get a 20 minute or so time slice to do some work.

6. Take time out to do some real activities with your children. Giving them some undivided attention at strategically placed time helps the children feel that you really do love and cherish them and the things that they do.

Here is a great list of things to do:

1. Arts and crafts: draw, color, or work with paper. I like cutting up old magazines and making collages. We have a couple of origami books and a paper air-plane book. We have made frogs that jump, cranes whose wings move, and lots of air-planes that my grandson never tires of throwing again and again.

2. Walk around the block. Bundle up if it cold. From a month before Halloween until about New-Year’s Day, the decorations on porches in in yards tend to change. My grandson loves to point out the pumpkins, the turkeys, and the Santa Clauses that pop-up and are taken down.

3. Visit a park. The swings and the slides are a favorite around here. There are public parks and neighborhood green spaces. We will bring a ball or a frisbee and change up what we do from day to day.

4. Visit the mall. The mall has play-places and my grandson loves to climb on every little piece of equipment in the play-place.

5. Take a trip to McDonalds or a fast-food restaurant to play. You might just order some fries or an ice-cream cone. Spend some quality time with your little one as they run around.

6. Bake cookies or dip strawberries in chocolate. You can find recipes on the back of your chocolate chip bag for cookies, or use an old and trusted recipe. You could make no-bake cookies to keep the younger kids from the oven. Or find some melters on the party isle at the grocery store or a party store. The melters come in several flavors and colors which can make dipping lots of things in the melted candy that will harden and be lots of fun when you eat them with the kids.

7. Make a holiday paper chain. Or just see how long the chain gets before you get off of the call or video meeting.

8. Read books! We used to checkout more than 30 books every few weeks when we had five kids at home. The library has so many that can be borrowed. You can borrow eBooks from Amazon with Kindle Unlimited.

I’m throwing in a personal plug here: You can read some great children’s books written by Dean and Brenda Giles, right here– http://austinsgift.com/books-by-dean-and-brenda-giles/ If you buy a book on Amazon written by us, just send us the digital receipt (email) and we will send you a printable pdf coloring book. Email us at dgiles63@gmail.com.  

9. Sidewalk Chalk! Step out of the door. The kids will enjoy using the chalk on the sidewalk. It is a blank slate waiting for some kind of decoration.

10. Put together puzzles. There are puzzles designed for every age. Older children can benefit from some hours of puzzle building. Our toddler loves wooden puzzles like these ones:  https://amzn.to/3UspRRi

11. Bubbles, bubbles everywhere! Kids of all ages love bubbles. Older children can still enjoy bubbles if you get a large bubble launcher: https://amzn.to/3A4CMAA

12. Make something with Playdough. You can often pick up an inexpensive set at the Dollar Store, or for a few dollars at Walmart or Target!

There are a dozen activities to break up the working hours and let the kids know that you really are there for them. Working from home can be a real blessing and can make more time together!