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But regardless, I have run a home business 3 times now from when my first daughter was 5 months old to today, when she is almost 13 and can do a little babysitting herself.
So here’s the good news:
You CAN run a business from home no matter what age your children are.
The bad news?
The smaller your children are, the smaller your business To Do list should be.
Plain and simple, until your kids are 3-4 years old, don’t expect yourself to be super-mom. Kids this young just need too much attention and the business will have to fit in between nap times and play dates - oh, and get used to starting your most productive work at 10:00pm.
Home Business Productivity Tips for All Ages
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Get the kids their own computer - when you can get a new CPU and monitor
for less than $500 total, it’s hard to say no - plus, they will need it for school eventually, anyway! - Have high speed internet access - so you waste no time when you actually can get work done.
- Own a laptop with wireless internet - so that you can move around the house or yard as needed.
- Get a Blackberry or PDA - so you can stay connected even when you’re at the zoo.
- Use a Chore Chart - give the kids some structure and responsibility during the day.
- Schedule play time just like you do your work time - I try to stay off the computer on Fridays to ensure we get to enjoy the summer months together.
- Use the Future Post option (for bloggers) - you can maintain a regular publishing schedule by future-dating your posts(when you’re likely writing in the middle of the night!!)
- *Find other parents in the neighborhood and swap play dates* - critical to the sanity of both of you!
- Make it easy for your kids to be independent - set up an area for them to do their own thing, and keep it well stocked with projects and games.
- Buy grab food or make healthy snack packages - that way they can feed themselves when they get hungry
- Set up a schedule for ordering out - both you and the kids can look forward to it!
- Segment and schedule your days - the younger the kids, the more you want to ‘chunk’ you days into activities, downtime, work time and TV time, but it’s a great productivity tool no matter what the ages of your children.
- Load up on popsicles - it always keeps them quiet for a few minutes for an important phone call and there are plenty of healthy kinds to choose from (or make your own).
- Get cheap movie rentals - most older titles can be rented for way less than new releases.
- Buy a pool pass - you won’t get anything done at the pool, but you’ll wear your kids out and they will nap longer!
Summer Activities for Children Age 1-4
If your kids are in this age bracket - I feel for you! Really, I had a hard time getting anything done without a part time sitter or a “mother’s helper”. If you really want to have a successful home business and you have very little kids, I would really recommend you consider hiring some help.
But for the days that you have to work and the little ones are right there with you, here’s a few ideas:
- Buy age appropriate computer games - my kids started at the age of 2
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Set up easy to find bookmarks for kid-friendly sites - I have my kids’ sites set up with the rest of my shortcuts right on my FireFox toolbars:
- Stock up on workbooks and coloring books, along with crayons, markers, stencils, etc. and plenty of plain paper
- Create an activity ’station’ where the kids can go to make a mess whenever they want
- Create a baby-proofed room and barricade yourselves in - baby plays while you answer emails!
- Rotate toys - kids get bored quickly, so once or twice a month, hide the old and bring in the new!
- Get a baby sling or baby backpack - my kids never made a peep when they could sit in their backpack and watch what mom or dad was doing
Summer Activities for Children Age 4-7
- Keep the kids moving and active (in my house, I have a harder time keeping them still!!)
- Take trips to the Library - and do business research while you’re there!
- Download fun worksheets and sneak in some learning.
- Make or buy a flower press and let the kids weed the garden for you.
- Get a sandbox - just make sure you also get a lid so that it doesn’t turn into the neighborhood litter box!
- Order cheap craft project kits from Oriental Trading
- Teach your kids how to make a fortune teller.
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Buy a cheap digital camera for your budding photographer
- Let them create their own scrapbooks
- Teach them to create their own PowerPoint presentations
- Download a free screen saver maker and let them create their own slideshows
- Throw the images into Photoshop and create ink jet t-shirt transfers
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Keep on hand at ALL TIMES:
- Bubbles
- Sidewalk chalk
- Water balloons
- Board games (with all the pieces!!)
- Working sprinkler or kiddie pool (preferably both)
- Art supplies
- Bookmark these activity web sites:
- Lest I miss stating the obvious:
Summer Activities for Children Age 8-13
- Get a metal detector and let the kids explore the yard
- Cut up some wrapping paper and let your kids loose on this Origami site
- Keep common ingredients in your pantry for kid friendly cooking projects
- Bite the bullet and get them their own phone in their room
- For the brave parents, let the kids do science projects
- Buy a cheap sewing machine and make kid’s sewing projects
- Turn your junk mail into a recycled pulpy mess and make paper
- Bookmark these sites
- SingShot - online Karaoke
- Summer.About.com
- National Geographic Kids
- NASA Kids Activities
- DIY Network Kids Page
- The EPA (yes, the Environmental Protection Agency!) Kids Club
- Animal Planet
- Discovery Kids
Craft Project Resources for All Ages
- EnchantedLearning.com - extremely comprehensive list sorted by holiday, theme, materials, or topic
- AllCrafts.net - free crafts listing
- FamilyCrafts.About.com
- ChildParenting.About.com - Summer arts and crafts
- CraftForKids.com
- The Best Kids Book Site - also has a huge crafting section
- OneHourCraft - for older kids (and, erm, their moms!)
Craft Supplies
- Michaels | Store Locator
- Hobby Lobby | Store Locator
- JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts | Store Locator
- Flax Art & Design | Only one store location in SF
Find Local Family Activities
- ActivitiesForKids.com - National US
- KidsGuide.co.uk - UK
- Families with Purpose - National US
- GoCityKids - all major U.S. metropolitan areas
- Australia for Kids - For my friends down under
- Scribbit on her hometown Anchorage, Alaska
Its amazing what we expect from ourselves until someone else gives us permission to think otherwise. I have a 2 yr old and a 5 month old and have to remind myself that my ‘TO DO LIST’ needs to be small when they’re with me BUT i still harbor quiet guilt that I’m not achieving enough…
I heard a great idea to keep kids busy - let them paint the driveway with water. Its a lONG project since it keeps drying:)
Wendy - what an incredible resource! Thanks so much for putting it together.
The kids that I have at home this summer are 13 and 17, so they are more independent, but the distraction is still there.
We just had a family pow-wow last night to discuss it, and I think we set up some good best practices.
One thing I would add to your list for people who have older children is the “closed door” rule. If the parent at home is behind a closed door in order to get some privacy, quite time, etc., no one comes through that door short of an emergency or an injury.
It definitely helps minimize the interruptions!
Great list Wendy! I’ll add one more site to the list for online resources: FreeStuff4Kids
I have a son who is almost 2, and I’m definitely considering some helpers this summer!
What a fantastic list Wendy, some really great ideas there and you even thought of us Aussies
3mths on holidays, I do not envy you all one bit! Our longest school holiday here is about 6-7 weeks and that is certainly long enough for me LOL
hi
there is this page i found which tracks all the top blogs about personal development in just a single page
http://www.netreputation.co.uk/directory/Personal%20Development
you are on it too
Wendy - this is such a great resource. Thank you for taking the time to pull it all together.
When my kids were younger I had a younger teen as a mother’s helper three mornings a week. She took the kids outside to play on the swings, had picnics with them and basically kept them entertained while I did a few hours of work. I highly recommend it!
Hi I am Mia of onehourcraft.com What a brilliant website. I will definitely be a regular reader. Great post and tips. Keep up the good work. And cheers to us moms who are trying to make a living at home while keeping some sort of sanity.
You are a saint! Thanks so much for all of the resources and you are definitely right that the most productive working time is after 10 PM (note when I am writing this!). I have an 8 month old son and a 2 year old daughter so this will come in handy. Thanks again!
wooo that’s my kind of a list! With 4 ranging from 3-11 I need some ideas! Thanks!
Amazing list, Wendy! Starfall.com (which you linked to above) is our 2-year-old’s CrackBerry right now. Thanks for doing the legwork here - it will save this daddy-blogger a LOT of time!
Nice tips. I am sure that it will take the childrens attention and leave parents free for business. Of course, we don’t want them to spend a lot of time on those gadgets.
Thank for the posting this wonderful list. You’ve made some excellent points. My favorite is the item that mentions how work is mostly done after 10pm. That’s very true. I also find that I can sometimes start early (5am) and work until the young ones wake up (around 7:00am). I’m definitely going to consider this list when I organize my summer schedules.
Wow, I am impressed, yet again! Thanks so much for so many fabulous tips! Perhaps we can all survive the long (HOT) summer ahead after all…I REX’d this article on http://FetchRex.com (Digg for non-techies). Have a great summer — only 3 days of school left for us in Atlanta!
Great list of links! My kids love the Disney, KidSites.com, and PBSKids.org links. Thanks a lot.
Last day of school is today.
It’s going to be a long three months, thanks for some great suggestions and for the mention.
what a great list. I actually put together a similar list recently too. We must be on the same wavelength. I have activity cards formatted for printing out on index cards to make a kind of Recipe Box for Parent-Child Activities. Here’s the link:
http://lifelearningtoday.com/2007/05/20/78-parent-child-activities-free-download/
Thank you, thank you, thank you. My 3 girls thank you as well. This will be my first attempt working at home while the children are home on school break. Once I book a couple more engagements they will be spending more time with the Grandmother but until then I will be pulling double duty. I have been able to squeeze out two blog posts this morning but it hasn’t been easy This list will be printed out and be used immediately.
Thank you again
Great post Wendy, lots of useful resources.
And very timely with summer vacation starting this week for some of our little ones. They’re 6 and 8 on our end.
Have an awesome day!
Dan & Jennifer
I’m the founder of a new website with downloadable mp3 stories for kids - iTales.com! (http://www.iTales.com) Yet another way for working moms (like me!) to keep their kids busy…entertained…and educated all at the same time!
Interesting list. I am not sure if computers work with every kid, especially if there is no fun games for them to play. But I think it will still turn out fine with the right games and guidance.