Snow Day /Mom Needs to Work from Home /Toddler Demands Attention - Suggestions?

At 2.5 it's tough to expect him to entertain himself. Even now at 6 mine can entertain themselves and behave for half the day but then need some interaction beyond that. I'd recommend if there is maybe a high schooler you could have come over on those snow days to help you out or any friends / relatives in the area. Otherwise expecting to get much work done working at home with kids around doesn't really pan out and everyone just gets frustrated.

If you can, take a sick day from work.
2 1/2 is too young for him to be more or less on his own while you are working.
If it's a snow day, the teens should be out of school, too.
Try to have a plan so that you can hire a sitter for snow days who can come watch your child while you work.

OMG this was my life yesterday... and it didn't even snow. Stupid VA ;) I'm from NJ, so I laugh at our school closings here!!

Best thing to do I've learned, is do a little bit, every hour. I don't know what kind of time constraints are required for your job, but for me, I do a little bit at a time (when I can steal a few minutes away from the kiddos)... I have a VERY naughty 1 year old... and my 7 and 5 year olds can only help but so much.

I get overwhelmed with work when all the kids are around, that's for sure... but spacing out my work day helps. You may end up putting in 10 or 11 hours as opposed to 7 or 8, but it does help. I also put myself in 'time out', tell the kids they can't talk to me or ask for anything because, hey, mom's in time out... then I bust through as many emails as possible!

I also used to work a stay at home job which required me being on the phone 24/7. I worked at home, but my customers thought we were in an office. If the kids were crazy loud in the background, I used to tell my customers that some other client brought THEIR children into the office ;) Ahh, the [lame] tricks of the trade ;)

Good luck, and try not to stress. I even sometimes tell my kids it's nap time... even if they don't nap, they have to take 30 minutes of quiet time, in their room, reading books or doing puzzles. OR if I'm mad, I tell them to clean it up ;) Either way, it keeps them busy, and I can give my work the undivided attention it needs for a little while :)

Do your work when he naps or when your husband gets home from work. Or wait until his bedtime. Not fun, but really? A 2 year old is not going to entertain himself. Sorry.

working from home is an oxymoron when toddlers are involved. he really can't be expected to play for long by himself.
i love the suggestion to set up a 'work station' next to yours with crayons and craft supplies. an hour of tv to let you work briefly uninterrupted won't be the end of the world either.
but you'll probably need to play catch up during nap time or after he goes to bed.
khairete
S.

I have tried to work from home with my 2.5 year old and it doesn't work for the same reasons. First thing in the morning I do let my son watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every day so for that hour I can get a few things done. My son will play with Play Doh for maybe 15-20 minutes. I can get him to sit beside me at the desk and draw on computer paper. I think it is just the age and it will improve in time as their attention spans increase. Good luck!

Well, my thoughts are if you work you work and just because you work at home is no reason to have to take off work. I understand the need to be employed and making money.

I don't get why a 2.5 year old is going to school so I am going to assume you mean child care. If you child care center is closed due to weather then you have no options open to take him somewhere else and hiring someone to watch him, either at their home or yours, would be an option. I agree calling on some local teens would be a good option, having a list of them posted on the fridge night be just what you need, or calling a neighbor who has kids similar in age to "borrow" your little guy for a play date can be a bit of relief too. At least that way if you have some pressing deadline you can focus on that work then when he is down for a nap or after bedtime you can finish up whatever is left.

My sister has a home sewing business and takes care of her grand-daughter M-F while her daughter works in banking. She also has her school age grand-son when school is out. She has a very hard time getting any sewing done when she has a very happy "loving her grandma" little girl is wanting to play. I understand though. My sister does hours and hours of sewing after they are picked up.

I found that my little guy loves movies. He loves "Cars", "Scooby Doo","Home on The Range", but the trying to yodel is really starting to get on my nerves...LOL. He loves "Toy Story", "Spiderman", "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs", all kinds of Pixar/Disney/Nickelodeon movies. It gives me a break when I really need to do something like cook dinner or start a load of laundry. If I put in a movie he is good to sit still and not move for at least an hour.

It is definitely hard to get work done with the kids around. I used to put in my 8 or so hours over a much longer time period. Basically I would work for awhile and then give my kids undivided attention for a bit. Try coloring for awhile, then play together for a few minutes, put some toys on the floor next to your work area, use the tv intermittantly throughout the day, my kids used to have a toy laptop (or even a spare mouse) so they felt like they were "working" alongside me. Good luck!

2.5 years old is so young to expect him to entertain himself for any period of time while you try to work. Your best bet would be to take a sick/vacation day next time this happens. I was stuck inside yesterday with my 3.5 year old and 1 year old all day yesterday- I barely had time to feed myself let alone do anything productive! :-)
Lynsey

He's a bit young for extended solo play. Perhaps you can check into drop-in daycare (they have something called Adventure Kids playcare in my area). It costs about the same as a babysitter. Or if you have babysitting age kids in your neighborhood who ALSO have a snow day, that might be a solution - I had a college student watch my kiddo when I had my own work from home business. I was still available for my little guy, but got big chunks of time to work. Good luck!

Play Doh is good, but at that age my kids still needed/wanted my help to shape it.

Do you have any dry beans? A couple weeks ago I was desperate for my 2 year old to entertain herself, so I poured some pinto beans into a bowl and gave her a couple spoons, small measuring cups and another bowl. She had fun pouring them from one thing into another. Rice would work as well.

I had my kids take long bubble baths yesterday afternoon. They had fun playing, and it took care of part of our bedtime routine for me. You wouldn't be able to leave a 2 y.o. unsupervised, but maybe you could take your laptop or some papers into the bathroom while you watch him? Just stay out of the splash zone. :)

Are there any toys he hasn't seen for a while that you can pull out? Even old baby toys that you've put away might keep him busy for a little while.

You could set him up with crayons & paper and let him "work" along side you.

Good luck!

Take a vacation day. Your son needs you. Do some work during his nap time, or later in the evening after he goes to bed.

Another option, call a babysitter and have them watch your child while you work.

I could NEVER work at home with my son...if I had to, I'd have to have someone come over to entertain him, which even with that I know would not work for long periods of time...or I'd have to only do it in intervals, or at night when he sleeps or he'd have to be helping me do it somehow..LOL, which is unrealistic. Personally I just take a vacation day or sick day or even just an unpaid day if I had to (like during the holiday blizzard that we just had, b/c I had NO TIME left the last week of the year! grrr!) for those days that I have to be home with my son...life will go on without me at work and family comes first this way I can truly focus on my child and not stress about not being able to get work done and not being able to focus on him. I actually save days for just this reason, and I save a day or two to use in hours for things like having to leave work early, or come in late for dr's appts, school functions, etc. Do you really need to work from home or can you just take a day and chalk it up being prepared for a bit of a hectic time when you go back but allowing you to be fully engaged at home?

As most have said, it is hard to get work done when they are that young. Once the kids are 4 or 5 and older, they can occupy themselves for much longer periods of time. Here are some ideas that worked for me when my kids were young.

1. Take advantage of free babysitting - I belong to the YMCA and they offer to watch your child for free for 2 hours while you work out. I just go into their main lobby and do work on my laptop instead. You can always ask a neighbor to help you that day and offer to watch her kids on another day in return. Or ask one of the neighbor girls (8 - 10 years old) if they could come over for an hour or two to be a Mommy's Helper.

2. Have special toys that only come out when Mommy is working. This might occupy them for a longer period of time if it is "new."

3. I like the beans idea that someone else shared. I would give my kids pots, pans, plastic bowls, and spoons to play with. I gave them dry pasta or bread to "cook" with. As long as you can sweep it up easily later, I let them make a mess. They might start banging the pots so make sure you aren't on a conference call.

4. Use the tub. I would put my son in a bathing suit, sit him in an empty tub and give him cups and pitchers with water in them. He would just pour them back and forth. I would sit on the floor or in the bathroom with my laptop just to keep an eye out.

5. Make a tent in the family room. I put some blankets over the couch or chairs and my kids would just crawl in and out for awhile or bring their stuffed animals down to play in the tent.

6. There are some cute kids computer sites for kids as young as two, if you are sitting nearby to keep on eye on what they are doing or "fix" the screen if they press the wrong button. I like http://www.kneebouncers.com/.

I hope that helps!

S. Kirchner
www.ChocolateCakeMoments.com - Simple, Creative Ideas to Savor Your Family Time!

This was good for me too! Thanks Mamas! Our 2YO is the same! I will say that saving a new toy for that day/time is very helpful. One time I poured a little water into her kitchen sink (plastic)...she was so amazed that her sink had water that she played at the sink for a minimum of 30 minutes! I still can't use the computer though. I have, however, seen a mom at Starbucks once who entered with 3 kids from around 1.5 to about 3 and 3 huge bags. The kids were AMAZING. They ate in silence while she worked on the computer. At first I cricitized her silently for not interacting with her kids, but this was probably the one time of day that she did this... and the kids obviously were content to nibble and look around while they sat in their seats!

He is only 2.5, so it is a matter of training over a long period - but worth it. I find that my kids all did better if I started out playing with them for 30 minutes. Then they were will to play on their own for another 30 minutes because they had had the attention and weren't feeling pushed away.

Also, remember our moms used playpens to keep us contained so they could get their housework done in the morning once we grew out of our morning nap (okay, depending on how old you are, maybe this was what your gma did! I'm 39). Remembering this was so liberating! I wasn't being cruel to my child, I was letting her learn how to amuse herself while in a safe place and I could get stuff done. Everyone benefitted. Since I didn't have an extra playpen, I just took her to her crib and placed books, stuffed animals, turned on a nice CD of children's songs, and set the timer for 45 minutes. No need to check on her - she was safe and I could get a lot of stuff done in a concentrated 45 minutes.

a 2 year old needs constant attention. He can't watch himself all day while mom works. There aren't activities that will keep him content on his own for long periodds of time. If he's sick or it's a snow day, mom really needs to take a sick or personal or vacation day, or have an on-call sitter to come. A 2 year old needs care and attention throughout the day and can't be expected to entertain himself for most of the day so you can work from home during his waking hours, it's just not realistic to expect to put in a day of work while simultaneously caring for a toddler