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Patience Required for Parents Who Work at Home
By Lisa Lake
©2004 All Rights Reserved
Working at home is a great dream come true for people. Lots of the ads promoting opportunity businesses have headlines like, "No More Daycare Nightmares!" and "Spend Time with the Family". But how do you do both, run a business while supervising children?
I think the toughest years to work at home are when you have very small children. I talked to a lady recently about her new position as a data transcriber at home. She was relieved to be done with her most recent daycare drama. Yet she admitted her 2- year old watched "a lot of videos" while she worked.
But working AWAY from home is a relatively new phenomena in our country. Before the industrial revolution, kids were always in the workshop, which was always in the home. Or kids worked with you on the farm. Back then instead of watching videos, children might have widdled sticks in the corner or been forced to go along with dad on the tractor. Were they constantly tended to? No.
Kevin Nunley, online writer and marketing consultant, works at home while his staff works at the downtown office. His desk at the office sits primarily unused so he can manage 4 children in a busy 2-career family.
"We have to get past the need to work without interruption," said Kevin. "Just like working in a hectic office, working at home requires being able to suddenly leave your work, then come back to it a few minutes later. It can be hard at first, but it gets easier with practice."
I was told a good writer should be able to compose in a bus station. Writing at home with young children is not too different. I only shut my door when I'm on the telephone interviewing someone. So my teenage girl and nine-year old boy, and even their friends and neighborhood kids and my dog, come through my working area a lot. They have a question, they need snacks, they want to kick you off the computer to play computer games. My little boy had a hard time with that: he didn't get at the computer for days at a time when I was close to deadline with a project. He got mighty huffy.
The payoff? You're at home! I help them with homework while I work. I know whose house they've gone to play at. I know what they eat and what they drink. Plus they keep me company, and even ask what I'm working on. Children who watch a parent work get a good idea of how you earn your paycheck. And, they know where YOU are! It's a sad fact that too many kids don't that anymore.
The numbers of home workers has exploded in recent years. Electronic telecommuting will continue to increase that explosion. Customers and associates no longer assume you're working in an outside office.
So what's the number one issue about working with children under foot? I agree with Kevin Nunley: how do you keep the kids quiet when a customer calls?
"I gradually learned that contrary to popular belief, few people object if they hear a child in the background," said Kevin. Many, when they hear a child, will remark with genuine admiration how nice it is you can work from home."
I've had the same reaction. When there's an anavoidable interruption-- even though your door was shut and you're furiously swatting the child away as he approaches you during an important call-- I just ask whomever I'm talking with to hold on, and pick back up the conversation by telling him I work at home and have children. They usually ask all about them, and tell me to enjoy them while they're young.
Enjoy yours, too, even while you work.
LISA LAKE
provides marketing advice and writes web copy, sales letters, articles, ads, and press releases.See her free tips at http://MyAdBlaster.com and catch advice from the staff at http://InternetWriters.com Quick turnaround on writing from classified ads to ezines and ebooks. Reach Lisa at lisa@myadblaster.com or 801-328-9006.
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