Working From Home with Kids

As a Mamapreneur, there are times when things just don’t go as planned and our families suddenly arrive in the middle of our business.

This recently happened to me (not the first time) and thought I would share the experience in case it might be helpful to you.

I was offered an opportunity to be the featured guest for a teleclass that was to run at 8PM.

I was prepared for the call, excited and looking forward to the opportunity.

7:15 PM – I start Abbi’s bedtime routine to have her tucked in before call time.

7:45 PM – Abbi is tucked in, teeth brushed, stories read – quiet time!

7:50 PM – I join the call and began welcoming the guests

8:10 PM – Abbi joins me and begins asking me questions, playing with noisy toys and doing anything she could to get my attention.

So what is a Mamapreneur to do…- I acknoledged the situation – no point in pretending there is not a noisy 4 year old joining me.
- hold my breath until I turn blue – just kidding but you get the idea.
- use the opportunity to show others how to work around family situations just like this one.

How did I do that, you ask? I used the situation as an example to those on the call and a reminder to Abbi. I have a system for work phone calls that need to be I had explained to Abbi that I had a work call at 8:00 PM, we had one on one time prior to my work call and if Abbi is quiet during my work call we will have more one on one time following my call.

This statement immediately caused my 4 yr old to scurry into her room and play quietly for the next 40 minutes while I finished the call.

Here is the clincher – KEEP YOUR WORD! As soon as the call was finished I checked on Abbi who was coloring in her room – waiting for me. We colored a picture together and talked about why she was so disruptive then quickly moved onto how proud I was that she was such a good girl etc.

Of course, next time I would probably get a babysitter (my husband works nights) for 1 1/2 hours and do the call from my van in front of the house – LOL, another great Mamapreneur secret.

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat. Oh and background noise IS accepted :O)