Stay-at-Home Parents' Guide to Multitasking: Spend Time with Kids and Work

Stay-at-home parents sometimes find it difficult to pursue their daily activities when they have young children home with them. Here are some ways to get things done while still spending time with your children.

1. Try involving them in whatever activities you're doing. If you're filing bills and balancing the checkbook, give them a pile of junk mail to "file". To prevent being asked 100 times what to do with each item they are filing, have them sort them by size or color. That should keep them busy while still spending time with you and helping them learn to match colors, shapes, and sizes at the same time. If your making lunch, give them a small task to do too. If your sorting the recycling, have them help. See who can sort the most items. Just keep it fun and simple for them. If you have to do something that will take longer than 15 minutes and can not directly involve them, try giving them something else to do. We all know how long a young child can stay focused on a task! You may have an easier time getting them to practice their letters and numbers on paper at the table then try to stay focused enough to help you empty out the refrigerator for a scrub down.

2. Kids love to get dirty. If you have a garden you need to tend, slather some sunscreen on them and have them help you water the garden, pull weeds, dig a hole for planting new things, or with gathering vegetables in a basket. Be sure to tell them how good of a job they're doing. If you gathered vegetables that day, be sure to make some for dinner, they may take pride in eating something they helped with. This can be an excellent way to introduce children to eating vegetables and helping around the house.

3. Do you find yourself skipping exercise routines because the children are home? Is it hard to fit in the time for exercise with your child around? Instead of skipping your routine, why not have your child join you. Get them in the habit of doing yoga with you or any other type of exercise you enjoy. Not only does this help introduce them to good exercise habits, it can be a fun bonding experience for the both of you. If your child is a very hyper one who has a hard time settling in for naps, this is a great way to get them calm before a nap.

4. Do you dread errands to run with the children? Do they complain and start running wild in the stores after just a few stops? Try to make some time in the schedule to permit a "break" stop. Try going over the list of tasks with them before you leave and ask them to decide on 1 place THEY would like to stop. This gives them a chance to just have a bit of fun in the middle of a busy day. This way they have something to look forward to when they start to feel tired or fidgety. Hopefully, this will also prompt them to contain a possible tantrum for a while longer. Try not to put their stop last or next to last. Try to give them a break in the middle of the stops. You don't have to figure in a long time for their stop, 15 - 20 minutes of ogling a toy store should be enough to renew their energy and spirits.

If you have a hard time getting them to leave after 20 minutes and you really need to continue with your errands, have a talk with them before you leave the house. Stress to them that this stop is a "gift" from you, to try to make the day a little easier for them, by letting them have a break at a place of their choosing. Tell them they have to make sure they are ready when you say or you will not try to fit a break in again. This way they understand that you have a lot of things you need to get done but your still taking the time to let them have some fun. Hopefully by adding in a pit stop for them, this will make running "boring" errands a little easier for everybody!

5. When you just need some time to yourself to concentrate on certain tasks:

If you run a home business or just need some time to focus on bills or budgeting, some times you just need a little quiet time. The hardest part of getting your quiet time is keeping the kids enthralled in something long enough. If they are young enough for naps try getting them into the habit of an hour or two nap. You could also give them "free play" time. Make this the time where they can watch a little bit of TV, do some arts and crafts, play in their room, or play a video game. Anything they want as long as they are quiet and behave themselves for an hour while you get some things done. If your children have a hard time playing without fighting or tattling on each other every few minutes, try excluding the activity causing the problem. For instance, if they fight over whose turn it is to play a video game, next time try excluding that from their options but replacing it with 2 other ideas. If they seem to have a hard time enjoying any activity without misbehaving then try giving each of them a task to complete instead. Nothing hard, Nothing as "punishment", just something that needs done that they might help with anyway. For instance, give each child a room or two to go through and pick up all the toys they have lying around. If their rooms are a tad messy, send them upstairs to put things away and make their beds. Tell them that if it does not take them too long to finish they can try playing their game together again. While these are tasks they would be asked to do anyway, they will probably see it as being punished and eventually start trying to get along better. Well, at the least, they will try to "hide" their fighting by whispers and gestures to one another, in order to avoid being "punished", instead of broadcasting the fights loud and clear throughout the house. You may not be able to completely cure the occasional fights but, at least you will not "know" about it every couple minutes!

These are just a few suggestions for getting things done with the children around. Getting the kids to understand your need for completing tasks along with spending time with them is the first step. Just remember to take a break and enjoy being home with your kids. Go for walks, enjoy special days full of fun events, plan special outings, and just sit and spend time with them. Put off errands for a day or cleaning and just plan a day centering around them.