Working From Home With Kids

by Shannon Shimuzu

When I had my babies I knew I wanted to be home with them. I had wanted to be a mom for so long that I did not want to miss a minute of my kid’s lives. Eventually this euphoria wore off and I knew that I needed to start exercising my brain or my head would quite literally fall off. To be totally honest I was bored out of my mind. I found myself cutting my own food up into little tiny pieces and humming the Itsy Bitsy Spider to myself as my kids were napping. I finally sat down and out loud said to myself that I was bored. Then I yelled it to myself and I felt a lot better.

So therein lied the problem, I did not want to go back to work in an office because I really did like being at home with my kids. However, I knew I needed something else to do or my family would really start to suffer. Let’s face it, as my husband states often, “If Mommy is not happy, nobody is happy”! That my friend is the truth. So I started doing research on what I could do from home that would exercise my brain, make an income for our family and allow me the flexibility to be with my kids and husband and also fulfill my desire to work.

Thank goodness I found it. I am now the proud owner of a successful small business, mother of two young kids and a wife of a great husband. Owning my own business has been exciting and fun. There have been ups and downs and definite learning curves but I wouldn’t change the flexibility it has allowed me or the income it has generated for our family.

When my children were smaller I would often times work while they napped in the afternoon or when they were asleep in the evening. As they grew older I would pop in and out of my office while they were engaged throughout the day. As they got old enough to understand that mommy was working things got a little more hectic. I would be on a business call and my son would come busting in the office shrieking about the injustice of being two years younger than my daughter. I patiently sat and explained to both of my kids numerous times that it was important to be respectful and disciplined when mommy was working. Eventually my patience wore out and I realized we needed to come up with a new plan. Patience, deep breaths and talking to them were not working; I was trying hard not to scream with frustration especially when my kids would come in; in full on fight mode.

Eventually, we had a family pow wow and sat down together to discuss how best to handle the situation. To my surprise my eight year old daughter came up with a perfect solution. She suggested making signs to tape on the door saying “Mommy’s Working”. So, together the three of us made various signs with cute pictures to hang on the door. The signs let the kids know that I was either working or they couldn’t come in, or that I was available. I silently thought to myself “It can’t be that easy”. However, to date this solution has worked for us. The kids have been really respectful of my working time and space. I really think part of the reason this has worked for us is because (a) it was their idea and (b) they helped to make the signs.

So, in the end a relatively simple solution worked well for us. My kids recognize that mommy has to work but is able to work from home and be engaged in their time too. For now, it is a win win situation for us all.

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