Kids at the Home Office

Vicki (200.172.107.49) -

Does anyone have suggestions in regard to summer coming and the kids being out of school. I know I am going to find myself being the victim of "I'm bored Mom" and I'm hungry Mom. My youngest child is twelve, and very self sufficient, but that doesn't stop any of them from behaving like toddlers. I can't focus on anything when I am trying to be the entertainment committee as well.

Comment #1 Pete101 from NJ -

I send them to day camp!

It keeps them active and challenged, keeps them from becoming summertime couch potatoes, and it also allows me the time to focus on my work.

I also givem them two weeks of sleepaway camp.

Comment #2 Ralph from New York City -

If they are old enough you can give them projects to work on for your work too!

Comment #3 Kim (207.179.175.29) -

Since your youngest child is 12 then I would put him in charge of making up activities and such for all your children and tell him you'll pay him that will keep him busy and the older ones could help him out or entertain themselves as they are older and should be able to do a lot of activies on their own.

Comment #4 itsmrsjonesy from * -

I turn situations like this into a job for my oldest. if he keeps an eye on the younger ones and keeps them busy I pay him for it. It works well for both of us, I get my work done, he gets some spending money.

Comment #5 craftewriter25 from new market tn -

i am with Ralph from NY. I agve my daughter envelopes ot lick and stuff, papers to put into file folders. She sat at the kitchen table and played office with me.

Luckily for me my " job" is designing dolls and writing books about them. So she finally learned to sew on buttons and sticth.

I made a dealw ith her that she woudl get paid if she helped mommy. 1 dollar for every job mommy had to do. So she began to change toilet paper rolls, she got abuck. She took a dust cloth and wiped the livingroom, she got a dollar.

She overwatered the plants she got a dollar.

she opened bars of soap, got a buck. At the end of a month she racked up quite a bit of change.

Whens he got older, she learned to make a sandwich so when she made lunch and placed the dishes in tehsink she got a dollar..

it carried over to today. If I am busy and she does work that I am supposed to do she gets paid.

Maybe now that shes 18 I should stop.............

The point was it kept her busy, and she played house with her dolls and made some fun money

Comment #6 George from Dead Like Me -

My dad has worked at home my whole life. We were taught from birth that if Dad was in his office we were not to go in there. If Dad's office phone rings we are not to answer it. I guess with Mom being there to take care of the four of us, Dad was able to support his business and his family without interruption.

Rules have to be made and enforced about your office hours just like with anything else.

Comment #7 FootballFan from The Stadium -

You may want to come up with a reward system. You could reward them for good behavior, good deeds, chores, etc. Make it something that is positive and not negative and it will last much much longer. I like the idea of getting the kids involved. Make more time to be with the kids and get some work done at the same time. Heck, even bribing them could work LOL.

Comment #8 melena from new orleans -

The reward system sounds like a good idea to me, but sometimes kids just wont behave even if they know they COULD be getting bucks out of it heh. Ahhh kids! The older child creating activies for the younger children sounds like a good idea but sometimes the oldest may be tired and want to go off on his/her own. A babysitter would be ideal but... that costs a lot of money :(

Comment #9 Isabella from The Southwest -

My youngest (who is 5 now) has always known me to work from home. She knew that if I was on the computer in my office I was doing work. She knew not to bother me or if I was on the phone she was quiet. She was disciplined from the start. She had her own little desk and it was jam packed with coloring books, crayons, writing pads, markers, etc. She knew how to keep herself busy. In fact, her kindergarten teacher commented that she works independently so well and I explained to her teacher that she's been like that from the beginning. So, as long as your kids know the ground rules while you're working, it should work well for both of you.

Comment #10 Turtle from the Pond -

The reward system is the bribe system. What do you think a reward for good behavior is? It's a bribe to behave. And it doesn't always work. My parents used bribes for everything. A lot of time I modeled the behavior they wanted in front of them to get the reward/bribe but didn't really change the behavior at all. School made me miserable so they bribed with everything where school was concerned. They could have bribed me with the moon and it wouldn't have made any difference.

Name:           
E-Mail:         

Optional (please add to our directory first)
Web Link:       
Link Title:     

Message:

Note: once you register your email address with OfficenMore.com it is used across our whole network of forums and blogs. You can create seperate profiles for each forum or blog, but use the same login.