Mondays have changed a bit around the Griffin house these last couple weeks.
I look back to when I first went back to work and Penny was sleeping 2-3 hours at a time about three times a day and my biggest "juggling" on Mondays was trying to do my work, make sure I ate a meal or two and maybe trying to get a nap in myself. Oh and I could wear Penny in a wrap pretty much all day. Pfwuhh. That wasn't juggling!
I still get to work from home on Mondays [it's a real blessing, really], but now on top of Penelope being a seriously curious crawler, Dan is home too during the week now [hopefully will be starting a new job soon, thank you all for your prayers and encouragement] so it has become super tough for me to stay focused, or sometimes just get one little thing done without being interrupted.
Penny wants to play. Or nurse. Or climb something. Or bang something against something else. Or just cuddle her mama. Laundry calls to me. Dishes call to me. Catching up on [personal] emails and finances and Amazon subscribe-and-save subscriptions and other computer things calls to me. Then on top of it, Dan is home... which in a very huge way enables me to get more work done because he can watch Penny for large chunks of time. But in a very huge way, it's a distraction. He's a temptation. Hanging out with him in the quiet time of Penny's nap calls to me [who wouldn't want to just hang out with their husband during the day?] Running an errand because he can watch her calls to me. Going somewhere as a family because we CAN calls to me. Taking a jillion photos of him interacting with her as they play calls to me [because you don't event realize how much you love your husband until you see him being a daddy to your kid]. Plus Dan and I often must take turns using the computer. He also has job interviews or job-related phone calls that cause him to need perfect quiet on a second's notice. You get the idea. It's a little nuts.
I would love some advice from other Work-at-Home-Moms with young children [especially other women who are accountable to an outside employer]... how do you do it? What are your tricks? I am lucky to have a flexible schedule where I do not need to put in a full 8 hours every day of the week... but what if I did? I can't imagine logging 8 hours of work in a day at home now that Penelope is up and at'em, but I know there are women who do it every day! I want to hear from you! Maybe in the comments?
This also makes me think about how our life is changing as Penelope changes. Our schedule, our plans, what we're capable of [eating dinner as a family] and not-so capable of [watching a movie while she's awake] and how that's going to continue to make us evolve. So much uncharted territory.
Probably going to have to start getting up earlier. [groan]
I struggle with this often! While Leighton isn't crawling yet she still requires quite a bit of attention. I've just started dedicating chunks of time to really buckle down and work. Whether she's napping or content for a bit I really just attempt to get stuff done an hour at a time. I have to be accountable for my work but I'm really now trying to be accountable to myself and focus on my work tasks at hand. Laundry can wait and so can dishes :)
ReplyDeleteAs you know Brock is 20 mos and I've worked at home f/t with him since he was a newbie. It was pretty "easy" until he was walking, which was around 10 months. I honestly don't think it is possible to do f/t hours at home with a toddler at home f/t and not have help. I'm anticipating (and really praying) that it will be easier when there are two to entertain each other. Right now, I can do just about anything (dishes, laundry, mopping, cleaning, cooking) and Brock loves to help. But, if I pull out my computer he immediately starts to whine and beg for attention. He definitely knows the difference between "work" and other stuff we do around the house. My "helper" comes 10-15 hours a week depending on my work load. I highly recommend Care.com for finding a mother's helper or nanny. It's been a god-send to be able to be home and know what is going on while I'm working and have Brock in his own space. One of the things I started around 9/10 months that has helped us is instituting a regular schedule. This way Brock knows what his day is going to look like. I think toddlers and older thrive on a routine. We do park between 830/930, snack at 10, lunch at 12, nap at 1, pool/yard time in the afternoon. In between times, we do errands or other fun stuff. The nanny or helper follows the exact same routine. We also include stuff like library time and zoo days(which we did until it was too hot). The key is - baby's time belongs to baby, and work time belongs to work. Trying to make the two share is unfair to both. ;-) You're doing great!! It's tough, but it is the best of both worlds! :)
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