Working Successfully With Kids at Home!

Working while kids are home during the summer months can be a challenge and if you are like me and have agreed to take on extras then the challenge is even more daunting. It occurred to me while I was up late last night completing the umpteenth load of laundry, that I should write a little bit about how to stay organized enough in summer to continue to be successful in your business ventures, whatever they may be.

I homeschool my two children year round so I am used to kids being around and mine are older now, though I have worked from home all their growing up years, but currently it is easier because they are old enough to take care of themselves for the most part. Something in my make up made it necessary to help out family and friends and so I agreed to take on 4 nieces and nephews for two weeks in addition to my own kids. Don't get me wrong here, I really adore these kids and I know we are going to have a great time, but it is not easy to pull this off and still maintain a work atmosphere.

Even though I have worked through all of my kids stages suddenly adding in 4 more kids ranging in age from 7-14 is a challenge in any one's book and working at home only makes that balance more tricky! My two are 16 & 18 and know the program, but adding all these extra kids in somehow throws them off too. For me the answer to success is organization. We have a schedule that we stick to religiously for meals and activities and everyone has jobs that they are assigned to so that I still have my work time. That being said, I have a lot more work than usual with them here, so I have had to give up some of the things I usually like to do in order for this to work. It is really all about organization and trade offs. I chose to have them here so I give up my free time to take care of and spend time with them.

In order to successfully have 6 kids in a home without chaos, however, we really have to work together as a team. Every morning at breakfast I go over the plan for the day and let everyone know what meal they are helping with and what jobs they are responsible for. Everyone is always responsible for their own clothing and sleep area in addition to the jobs to help the household as a whole run smoothly.

I have simple consequences for actions. My philosophy is that every action has a consequence. Whether its a good consequence or a negative consequence. Once kids have felt consequences a few times they will respond accordingly. These kids have not had any consistency so they have tested my limits just to see if there will be consequences and follow through. Once they realize that I mean what I say and they cannot get me upset they settle in and we can have fun together. The first couple of days is a little rocky and then after that it gets much smoother.

So whether you are having extras around off and on through the summer or whether you are just trying to survive the onslaught of your own offspring your best defense is a good schedule so that everyone knows what to expect. Your work time can survive the summer with persistence and consistency.