Blog 17: 4 Ways to keep your kids entertained while working from home

 Hello Readers! 

I want to talk about kids today, as many of us have kids. In the era of COVID, working from home can be extremely difficult if you have young ones at home who are doing online school or just with you. It can be hard to balance the focus and motivation you need while your kids are yelling, making messes, and bothering you for things throughout the day or in the middle of meetings and phone calls. I want to give you some tips that can help with this balance, and hopefully make both you and your kiddos more productive overall, as well as teach them boundaries between work time and play time. My own son Logan is a sweetheart, but like every kid, doesn't quite understand that when mom's in a meeting, she shouldn't be bothered. In the times I've been working with Logan nearby, I've come to find certain tips and tricks that help both of us to be productive and happier during the day. I hope that these tips also help you to not be as stressed with your own kids, and help your kids to understand how scheduling and boundaries work. You can find my 4 ways to keep your kids entertained while working from home below: 

1. Put up a big clock/schedule of the day with designated times for play time and work time 

Having a visual reminder for your kids of when work time is and when play time is can help teach them boundaries, as well as understand how time works, and how scheduling works. I've done this before in the past with Logan and it works really well. If your kid comes and bothers you during work time, you can easily remind them to go look at the calendar/schedule for when they can come bother you to play. It can be hard for a child to learn, and this trick is generally better for older kiddos, but it's a valueable and helpful lesson for both of you. 

2. Make sure that your child has lots of activities to keep them busy, not just TV. 

Many parents, in my opinion, can take the lazy way of plunking their kid down in front of the TV for hours while they work. While there are a lot of educational programs on TV for kids, watching TV all day is not good for child brain development. Instead, make sure your kids have fun and educational activities throughout the day they can work on. These can be things like puzzles, math workbooks (you can order all sorts of school workbooks online) or reading or science workbooks, dolls, legos (amazing and teach creativity to your children), outside toys, and other things. If you're lucky to have a backyard, you can also encourage your kids to play outside in the backyard with water balloons or a slip'n'slide. Making sure the activities for your kids are both challenging and stimulating will help to keep them busy, and make sure that you have your sanity. Keeping an eye on your kids physical exercise is good too. Making sure your kids run around in the backyard, or ride their bikes throughout the day can help increase their exercise, which is good for their growth. Plus it can wear them out faster. 

3. Make your kid feel like they're working too 

What do I mean by this? I mean give your kid a fake work schedule, like yours. Clearly they won't get paid or they won't have the same tasks as you, but by telling them they have to do X task for "work" while you're working makes them feel involved and important to you. Plus you're sharing the work experience with them from an early age. Cool huh? 

4. Stop working when work time is over

This means that when your schedule says work time is over, to STOP! Many parents, and myself included, promise my kids I'll stop at a certain point, but don't because I'm still in work mode or have too much to do. This can disappoint your kids, and show them that you aren't taking time for their schedule. Respect your kids' time and make sure that you stop when you tell them you'll stop. This will make them feel valued and important. 

I hope these tips help you to get some of your sanity back and make sure that both you and your kiddos are able to work together in the same environment. While there are many other lessons out there, my 4 ways to keep your kids entertained while working from home can hopefully be simple and creative enough to work into your daily schedule. Reach out on social media and my website to let me know how these tips worked and some of your own! 

Until next time, 

Katie