Isn't summer great! It's so much easier for me, as a homeschooling, work at home mother, to handle my kids in the summer! But I'm the exception - I've worked from home since my kids were babies, and I've taught them what to do.
Here are some ideas!
Schedule your time. I'm more of an owl than a lark, so I plan to get a lot of work done in the late evening. A bit harder in the summer, when sunset isn't till 9:30 pm or so! I do a lot of work with my children in the morning - check through their chore charts, read to them, spend time snuggling before we get out of bed, talk to them about what I have to get done for that day.
Tuesday is my day to run errands for the business - so I let them know, "Today's Tuesday, so we're going to be in the car all day. I'll buy you a Happy Meal at McDonalds, and if you're good, I'll take you for a treat!" Kids are able to behave better if they know what is expected.
For days when I need to meet with clients, I either locate a good drop-in day care center, find a young woman (age 12 - 16) who would like to babysit, or arrange sitting with my oldest daughter who is currently attending Kaplan University online and is generally home during the day. I also spend time educating my clients that I am an at-home mommy, my kids are my most important clients, and from time to time, they may be joining me at meetings. (Kids are then instructed in how to behave in these meetings, and they bring books and coloring materials.)
I do most of my work in the afternoon, when my kids are outside playing. When they were younger, this was nap time. I also find that children need time for independent play, so from 1 - 5 I would expect them to play quietly with toys - or outside with friends.
There's no working once my husband gets home, until the kids are down and asleep. He's the biggest kid of all!
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