Summer's here and the kids are out of school which is presenting some very interesting challenges for me as I attempt to work from home. My kids, ages 5 and 8, are used to "always available mom" now find themselves with a babysitter downstairs and "un-available mom" upstairs working. Even though they are supposed to stay out of the office while I'm working, they keep wandering in complaining about the mean babysitter who won't let them watch TV or have a third brownie. This is all fine, except when one is on the phone trying to sound professional.
Ground rules have now been set. No coming upstairs interrupting mom while the sitter is here unless it is a real emergency or risk precious TV viewing time. Since we finally broke down and got Cable TV this month, TV has become much more interesting for them. Things are starting to improve.
I've also gotten a bit more crafty. I now make sure to have a few interesting projects for the kids to do with the baby-sitter so they'll be so busy, interupting Mom won't seem so appealing. Baking cookies is always on the agenda, water balloons never seem to go out of style and of course I've now got a stash of interesting craft projects hidden away in the closet. When the weather is nice, sending them all off for a walk to the park with money in hand for snacks at the local convenience store never fails.
Mary Kate
Recent Comments