Briefcase Moms

Working mothers in the home is such an institution they now have their own acronym Internet: WAHM, or work at home moms. And if it can be a struggle, to say the least, to balance the needs of children and the needs of the office, there are also great rewards. In fact, I have a lot of success and inspire friends WAHM, and I learned a lot from them.

Part of the challenge of working at home is keeping an eye on children while not letting them stop you from your work. It's easier with older children, that's for sure: you can rationalize with them why you work at home and why you can not be disturbed during working hours. With younger, you will need special strategies for calming. Try setting different toys each day, while hiding the other toys, so that your children are bored with their toys. (The problem in children, of course, often leads to wrong booster.) If you have a particularly difficult task on a certain day, you may want to give children a brand new toy that will hold their interest long and therefore more to silence them. In addition to recreation, you and your younger children could schedule "quiet time to work" together. My friend Margaret, who is a great graphic designer, working on his projects at the kitchen table while her daughter is facing her and color in his coloring books, so they are both working as artists at the same time. And some afternoon my accountant friend, Valerie and his son set their respective laptops on the floor and belly-flop down in front of them. Then, Val is his spreadsheets that his son plays online games math, while muted, of course. And another friend of mine taught his children to make healthy snacks like trail mix and jello with fruit, which is quietly preparing and serving each other while she types away.

Working mothers should be particularly mobile and should always plan ahead. Be prepared to do many things during Naptime or when traveling to your children during the night grandmother. Make sure your laptop and all you need is put it in your briefcase on the days you spent an hour or an orthodontist in the lobby of the piano teacher. Try to do more work on the day before a snowstorm is forecast, snow days of your children will probably run around the house to entertain you no end. You can also try to form a union with the proximity of other working mothers, a kind of United International WAHM. You can then take turns watching the kids in the afternoon so that everyone gets a few days of silence each week.

Finally, remember to spend time with your children every day. Take a break from your work and go out with them the exercise will benefit all of you read them, enjoy the fact that you're not sitting in an office all day. It feels good to be a WAHM.