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Home › Articles › Child Care › Little Employee of the Month

Little Employee of the Month

Working With Your Toddler So You Can Work at Home

By Laura Cone

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Grumbach says it's important to safe-proof your house. For example, only place age-appropriate, soft play objects within arm's reach. Also, she suggests inviting a preteen or senior citizen to be a "companion sitter," someone who plays with your child while you are at home.

Grumbach says many 11- and 12-year-old girls like to get babysitting experience by first volunteering to be a companion sitter. "Because of labor laws kids are not able to babysit during school hours, but you could find an older family member," she says. "If it's after school hours, a kid could play with your toddler while you work at home. You are doing them a service by training them for when they babysit on their own."

Network With Other Moms
Yolanda Brown of New Tampa, Fla., the mother of 3-year-old Briana, says she is involved with a babysitting co-op. "We swap off kids all the time," Brown says. "We do have a lot of moms who work or have in-home businesses. When they have deadlines, they know they can pick up the phone and we will just grab them and take them to playgroup."

Brown, who works as a project assistant for the University of South Florida, often keeps her toddler occupied with play dough and plastic cookie cutters while she exchanges e-mails or writes an article from home. "A lot of times I am able to work from home because I can log on to the Web site from home," Brown says.

Her secret for keeping he toddler happy while she works is to keep her in close proximity. She buys workbooks from the dollar store and lets her color while sitting at a desk next to her. "I give her something so she feels like she is doing schoolwork," Brown says. "She just loves it. She may stop me and ask a question, but it keeps her occupied. The other thing that works with her is snacks."


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