working with a toddler

[Mama_Meme]

hi all!

so, i'm a ft sahm now, but i have just been offered a 6 month opportunity to work for a local organization which i have to go into an office for. however, i can take my DD with me to the office, so it would kinda be like working at home.
i am just wondering if it would be possible to get 5-6 hours of concentrated work in while having a 2 yo present. she's fairly good at amusing herself, and i can get quite a bit done with her, but I'm not sure the realism of being able to put 30 hrs in a week with her always with me...

any thoughts?

Thanks!

[azdaisy]

Hi Mama,

I'm wondering if there are some people out there with some good ideas on how to make this work. I am a WAHM mom to an almost-three-year-old, and I'm pregnant with #2. I grade papers online from home, which is part-time. I also do a little other part-time computer work for a family member. I have found that finding concentrated time to work has been very difficult. Luckily, the jobs I have allow me to stop and start whenever I need to. My son does not usually take naps anymore, which is unfortunate, as that was when I used to be able to get at least a couple hours of concentrated work time. I used to work mostly late at night, after DS went to bed; however, since I'm so tired now, I find myself trying to get at least some of my work done during the day. This is more difficult for DS to understand, as he wants to play together most of the day. So, I try to fit in my work throughout the day, whenever I get a chance.

I hope there is someone out there with some better ideas!
Thanks!
Joanna

[Rowansmama]

I think this would be incredibly difficult. I WAH as a technical writer, and doing any amount of work with DD in the room is basically impossible. If I'm in the room, she wants me to play with her. She is good at amusing herself, but just when I get writing she needs something. I do almost all my work at night after she's gone to bed. It's not ideal, and once the new baby is born I'm going to have to find some sort of childcare arrangement. I hope you can figure out a way to make it work!

[sprouthead]

I am in this boat myself.. Right now I'm able to sort of "check in" (I work online) throughout the day while DS is entertaining himself, but it's literally for minutes at a time. The time between the two of us going to bed is already jam packed with other things I need to do.. I hate to say this, but I'm thinking of finding a tv guide and figuring out when some shows that DS would want to watch are on, and putting those on for him so that I can build some more uninterrupted time into my day. I hate the connotation of "using the tv as a babysitter," but I really think that it's my best option until he's able to spend longer periods of time self-entertained..