Keeping Kids Occupied While Working At Home

Many parents who work at home decide to do so to achieve more balance between their work life and their home life. If both parents are working out of home, the feeling is that somehow the kids are being neglected and so usually, one of the parents, whose job is more flexible, decides to stay at home and work from home.
To be able to concentrate on work while you are at home, you will need to keep distractions to a minimum. You may therefore tell your friends and family to call before they come, you may tell your neighbor to drop in later and if you have a cleaning lady who helps you with the housework, you might suggest that she comes in the morning before you start your work. You may now think that you have taken everything into account – well, almost everything. You have not accounted for keeping your kids occupied while you work at home.

Very often, if a parent is at home, the kids expect the parent to spend some time with them. They may nag you to play with them or insist on speaking to you, all at a time when you are trying desperately to stick to some work deadline. In order to ensure that you do not end up frustrated or angry, and that your kids do not feel hurt or neglected, you might want to think of ways in which you can keep your kids occupied so that they will not disturb you during your working hours.

Here is a quick guide to keeping your kids occupied while you work at home.
1. Get a list of activities ready. Children are always bored when they do not have anything specific to do and they have to think of something to do by themselves. You might want to make a list of activities that they can do and provide them with all the materials that they will need. This will keep them occupied for fairly long hours, while you get your work done.
2. Get a schedule ready. Contrary to popular belief, kids thrive with a schedule. Draw up a schedule in which the children are told what are the parent’s working hours, when the kids are expected to play by themselves and when they can expect their parent to be with them again. It should be emphasized that the more patient they are, the more work their mom or dad can get done and the sooner they will get to play with them.
3. Spend as much time after working hours as possible with your children. While it is understandable that you would want to spend time during working hours on your work alone, sometimes after your work is done, you should spend some quality time with your children, perhaps taking them out for a treat or playing with them in the park. This way, they know that even if you are busy working for some part of the day, you will always be there for them for the rest of the day.