**ScoobyM**

ateytelb

Hi Stephanie. I was just offered a new position (same company), and if I take it I can work from home half of the time. Jason goes to preschool and Erin is with the nanny during the day. I know you have similar arrangements with your kids, and you work from home FT. What is you day like? How do you manage not to get distracted?

ScoobyM

Hi!  I do have similar arrangements, although Ellie is only in school two days a week right now.  Basically, I have an office that is set off in the corner of the upstairs of my house and I shut the door when I need to be able to truly focus.  My nanny keeps the kids occupied by taking them outdoors in good weather, and they go on trips to the library, the mall, and a play gym on a regular basis every week so they are away a lot.  She knows when I have the door closed that I need to work without interruptions and if I leave it open, that is an invitation for them to stop by and say hi to me.  She's pretty good about respecting my work space and keeping the kids away from me.

As far as how my day goes, now that Noah is here, I get up and feed him, then once my nanny gets here she takes him and Ellie and I usually grab some breakfast and bring it up to my office to eat in my pajamas while I check email and get settled in.  I will stop and get dressed, brush teeth, maybe shower when I hit a point during my day that I can step away.  I generally make myself lunch and bring that up to my office as well.  If I have a lot of conference calls or time-sensitive work, I'll keep my door closed all day and just hunker down.  If I have a lighter day, I'll sometimes stop downstairs to chat with my nanny and visit with the kids a little.  Also, my nanny brings Noah up to me in my office when it is time to nurse him so I usually get a quick update from her then.  Once it is time for her to leave I will just wrap it up and go downstairs and play with the kids, start dinner, etc.  One nice benefit of being home is I can also do things like laundry or other small chores during the day if needed so I may run out for an errand or something if I need to.  Fortunately, my work is flexible enough for me to do that.

Honestly, it was all much easier before Noah was born;  after he came along Ellie got really clingy to me and when I started back to work she began to want to come into my office all the time and wants to hang out in here with me.  I try to let her come see me each day since I think it is a response to her new baby brother but I am not going to be able to let it continue too much longer as my work is ramping up and the constant interruptions are a challenge.  But up until this point, she was really good about leaving me alone when I was working, so that helped a lot and my work is pretty much all conference calls so that made it easy for me to ignore what was happening in the rest of the house.

I really, really love working at home.  I think it is awesome you have this opportunity but you definitely have to be able to focus with distractions, because you WILL hear your child crying or laughing or whatever and there is a strong temptation to go see what is going on.  Although to me, it isn't that different than being in the office and having the distraction of my co-workers and friends nearby and people stopping by my desk with unexpected questions or conversations. 

I know I would never want to work in an office again, I like being able to "visit" my kids and I love the freedom of not having to get up and get out of the house in a nicely clothed state every morning - LOL.  I think it is the best perk of my job.  If you decide to take this position, I think you will figure out a way to get your work done and you'll really enjoy the comfort of knowing your kids are right there and not having to deal with a commute that keeps you away from them longer.

Good luck with whatever you decide and let me know if you have more questions!!

ateytelb

Thank you Stephanie! Looks like you have everything well organized and under control. I am going back to work Wednesday and still need to talk to the dept head about the position, but from what I know now it looks good. Will let you know how things develop.