How to Work With Children From Home When You Are Distanced From Society
If you’ve ever worked from home with small children under your feet, even during the day, you know this is no joke. Children are demanding, work requires concentration – these two concepts do not quite fit.
But the reality for many working parents is that the coronavirus is starting to infiltrate our communities. This means that many of us may soon find ourselves running computers from home while we are busy with children who are out of school indefinitely. Add to that the possibility of self-isolation, and all this bullshit is about to become a reality.
We’ve already given you tips for working from home when your kids are out of school. But that’s about a day or two. Heavy snow storm. A couple of feverish days. Not something that many parents can experience as the days stretch out in front of them, finishing off snacks and building up pent-up energy.
Luckily for us, writer Liz Lenz has been there many times, and she offers us many ideas on Twitter for how to survive long-term work from home with young children.
It’s worth clicking to read the entire thread, but I’ll summarize the top 10 suggestions for you:
1. Prepare a snack area or snack box for the children to help themselves (ie, do not bother you every 20 minutes). Make it a free snack, at least while supplies last.
2. Do you really need to get through the phone call? Set a timer for 30 minutes of quiet play. They may rush towards you screaming when it goes off (just make sure your call doesn’t exceed 29 minutes).
3. Slap them into the tub. If they are small (need supervision) and you have a laptop, take it with you and get another 30 minutes of mostly uninterrupted work time.
4. “Pipe cleaners and tape,” says Lenz. “Don’t ask, just give them back, the damage is minimal, I promise.”
5. This is the situation of building an epic fort, if there ever was one.
6. Let them play with toilet paper. You have stocked up, you have a lot to spare.
7. Let them rip up old magazines. We’re desperate.
8. Let them paint themselves with a washable marker. Lenz calls this game “tattoo parlor,” and her kids loved it.
9. Ignore them, keep them bored, etc.
10. But her best advice, I quote, is “who cares, let them watch TV, we are all just trying to live here.”
If you’ve done all of this and are only having your second day, here are some more ideas from the Offspring archives:
- Give your kids podcasts and audiobooks with Pinna
- Create “boredom jars” with your child
- Create Rainy Day Activity Bags for Your Kids
- Create sensory baskets for your baby from what you already have
- Make a busy board for your child
- This is the best homemade sculpting dough
- Let your child paint with this homemade paint ice cream
- Quick ways to reach kids when you’re busy
- Give kids unlimited time to watch in front of the screen, but only after they finish their day to day activities
- This DIY Tin Can Can Help Kids Keep Themselves Busy Without an iPad
Of course, it is also important to keep in mind that being able to work from home, even with young children working outside of oneself, is a privilege that many workers do not have. As difficult as it is, it is much more difficult not to have this opportunity at all.