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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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Folger says it's best to forget about a phone call if your toddler is screaming, which is more likely to happen if they feel ignored. "It's going to make you look not very professional," Folger says. "You have to work around their schedule when they are that young. Having some sort of routine is good. Naptimes are wonderful. They are a gift from God."

She also recommends networking with other work-at-home mothers. Maybe one mother will watch your toddler in the morning while you meet with a client and you can watch her toddler in the afternoon so she can meet a 5 p.m. deadline. "That way you are not paying for a babysitter," Folger says.

Even though working at home with a toddler may seem like a daunting task, it's worth it, according to Folger. "The best type of work is to do something you love, that you are passionate about," she says. "There are so many work-at-home scams out there. You have to do a business you love and are going to stick with. I'm so thankful I've been able to work at home. It's not easy. It's a little juggling. [But] the benefits outweigh any challenges."

You don't have to quarantine your toddler to his or her bedroom when you have work to do. Instead, set up a miniature home office for your toddler and work side-by-side on your grownup activities while they play along. You might decide to make your toddler "employee of the month" rather than docking his pay or taking away his graham crackers.

5 Tips for Making Working at Home
Work for You

Paula Spencer of Chapel Hill, N.C., a mother of four, says she has worked at home since the birth of her second child. Her book, Momfidence! An Oreo Never Killed Anybody and Other Secrets of Happier Parenting will be published by Crown/Three Rivers Press in September 2006.

For a young toddler, Spencer says a playpen can be useful. She recommends placing your toddler in a playpen when the phone rings for safety while you're distracted. "Teaching your child independent play at an early age is also useful," Spencer says. "Obviously they can't entertain themselves for hours while you work, but if you can start with short stretches and get them used to entertaining themselves, this ability will only continue to grow as they do."

Spencer, who is also the author of Parenting Guide to Your Toddler (Ballantine, 2000), offers the following tips on making working at home with a toddler work for you:

  • Keep regular office hours.
  • Consider having childcare help for part of the day.
  • Use the tube in moderation. Spencer says parents should not be afraid to turn on a video for an hour or two 30-minute segments. "We've become so TV phobic," she says. "But in reality, even done once a day they won't lose any brain cells or be damaged by an hour of TV. Especially after taking a walk or playing outside together – something energetic – they may welcome the chance to settle into some downtime and you can be guaranteed of a short stint yourself."
  • Offer a snack. Feeding your toddler can he helpful to temporarily stave off interruptions when you're on the phone, Spencer says. "However, it's virtually impossible to conduct business by phone with a toddler underfoot," she says. "For that we have e-mail and naptime."
  • Stock your home office with arts and craft supplies. Spencer says she always kept paper and crayons in her office as well as books and toys. "Toddlers love to imitate what you're doing," she says.


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