Are you working from home with kids, thanks to covid-19? Does each work day suddenly feel 70 hours long? If you answered "yes" to both questions, then this post is for you. As a parent who worked from home when our teens were tiny humans, I've been there, done that, and have some advice. But first, I'll share a story that might make you feel a little bit better. When toddler meets deadline I used to have a very-part-time babysitter come to my house to watch our then 18-month-old (our first-born) so I could do phone interviews and write stories in my home office. One day, the babysitter cancelled because she wasn't feeling well. Unfortunately, I had a phone interview with a CEO scheduled to start in 30 minutes. I had no babysitting back up, and my spouse was at work. Internal panic set in as I watched our toddler try to climb my office chair. I couldn't cancel the interview, which was for a company profile article in a national business magazine on short deadline. How was I going to do this? I had to act fast. I turned my home office into a toddler containment zone by moving all of her favorite toys in there. Her snacks and drinks were assembled and laid out on a small table with her tiny chair there. A diaper change was made. I closed the office door so she couldn't flee the scene mid-call. "I have to get on the phone for a few minutes," I told her, although realistically it would be around an hour. God help me. "So you can play with your toys, and I'll be right here, and when I am done we will go play, okay?" "Mama-mama! Nemo!" she said, holding up a plastic orange and white fish. Yes, Nemo! She sat down on the floor, and started playing with her toys. Maybe I could get through this interview after all! Stay calm and carry on (the call) The phone rang, and I answered it. It was the PR person, who was ready to patch me into the call with the CEO. Here we go, I thought as I picked up my pen. Just stay calm. You can do this, Chris. My stomach sank when I realized the CEO was joined by two VPs, a few senior marketing people, an in-house PR person, and a few other employees. There were at least 8 or 9 people on the call, plus the PR person who was managing the call remotely. I couldn't see everyone -- it was audio only, thankfully -- but I could see what I was up against. The echo of what sounded like a very large room reverberated on my end of the line as they introduced themselves one by one. Holy crap, I thought to myself. Just get through this. Professionally, however, it felt like I was about to drive a toaster through a car wash. My toddler was still happily playing with her toys, and I gave the group a quick overview of the story topic. I asked permission to tape the phone call for my own accuracy -- which, given what was about to happen on my end, was absolutely necessary. I also mentioned that my babysitter had canceled last minute, and that they might hear some occasional toddler speak in the background for which I apologized in advance. (I had a mute button, so I would be able to limit the Nemo talk on the down low unless I was asking a question.) The group seemed quite accepting of my situation. If they rolled their eyes, I couldn't see it. But being open about having my child in the room brought down my internal stress level significantly. So far, so good. I started asking questions, and the interview was proceeding as well as I could expect when our toddler suddenly made a beeline for the big bookshelf across the room. She began pulling paperbacks, business books and college textbooks off the shelves, one by one, throwing each of them onto the floor. Who Moved My Cheese, indeed. Long story short, she pulled every single book off the bookshelves for the next hour while I hovered over her to make sure the bookshelves didn't fall, or that she didn't otherwise hurt herself. I tried to re-direct her to her toys a few times, but she wasn't having it. She had found her calling. via GIPHY I got through the interview, but it felt like it lasted forever. Afterward, I sighed at the big pile of books that would need to be re-shelved, and then as promised took our toddler to go play. It was only mid-afternoon, but I was already drained. It felt like I had just condensed a 10-hour work day into one hour. Later, I listened to the phone interview with my head in my hands. As the CEO said something about a certain product, I remembered how our toddler was going to town on my Carl Hiaasen collection at that moment. So Millennial parents in the omnipresent Zoom age without any child care at all except for virtual camp (really?), let me just say: I get it, at least most of it. Seven tips for working from home with kids As the kids got older, working got easier. Still, working at home with kids around takes patience, practice, and planning. Based on my own years of experience with multiple children, here are seven tips for working at home with kids as background noise: 1. Have a routine. The pandemic has turned time on its ear, but try to be as consistent as you can. Consistency creates calmness. Create a routine for your children around your work day. The same thing happens around the same time, every day. Take a break every few hours to do something with your kids. A quick walk around the neighborhood can do you wonders, too! 2. Plan ahead. Plan your work/life balance like you're running an in-home summer camp. One word: projects. Think of some projects they can happily work on for hours, if not days. Busy hands are happy hands. I had a few giant tubs with every art supply you could imagine, and big rolls of paper. Ask for their help, too. I asked our oldest to decorate her sister's pandemic birthday ice cream cake, but she couldn't fit "day" on it. It's a cake we'll always remember. 3. Give your children something to look forward to. This is key. Kids are just like adults: they need motivation! Nothing is more motivating than something to get excited about, so give your kids something to look forward to every day this summer. Tossing a ball in the yard, baking cookies together, whatever. Riff off the things they like. 4. Don't be afraid to use bribery. Bribery get a bad name but it is a very under-appreciated tool in the parenting arsenal, and it can be especially useful when you have an important Zoom call during a global pandemic. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BRIBE YOUR CHILDREN RIGHT NOW. If you can be quiet while I'm on the phone, then I'll let you stream that movie for $7.99 on Amazon afterward. But you have to be well-behaved for that to happen! Think of it as giving them work targets to hit before they get their daily bonus. You're not a loser parent, you're a winner! via GIPHY 5. Stagger your work schedules if you can. If both parents are working from home full-time, see how you can stagger your breaks to check in with the kids and keep them directed. Maybe one of them just needs to vent about what their sibling has been up to while you were on a long Zoom call. We all need to vent right now, even the kids. Be a good listener. 6. Quit working when you say you will. If you told your restless kids that you would do something with them at 6 p.m., then you'd better do something with them around 6 p.m. Treat your kids like a valuable client -- e.g., you can't miss the meeting. In the process, you are teaching work/life boundaries that will serve them well as adult worker bees. via GIPHY 7. Be patient. Your work quality and attention span might feel tenuous at best in these trying times. Just remember that it's the same for everyone who is trying to juggle work and home, at home, never having done it before. Distractions abound, so give yourself a break, okay? None of this is easy. Bottom line: You are a tired, stressed-out human being working at home amid a global pandemic and deepening economic crisis while your kids are arguing over a toy in the background. You are trying to do your best. Just remember that your kids are your biggest fan. You are their superhero sitting at a desktop. I hope without a big pile of books to clean up, though. That took awhile.

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