5 Ways My Older Son is Helping Out with His Little Brother This Summer

This summer marks my third as a work-at-home mom. Long gone are the days of full-time summer daycare programs and group field trips. Gone are the uninterrupted work days in my freezing cubicle and an actual quitting time. I’m on summer’s schedule now, desperately trying to fit work into a house inhabited by kids.

While working from home remains an undeniable blessing nine months out of the year, it presents very real challenges throughout the summer months. Later kid bedtimes result in a night owl work schedule and regular deadline near misses. Business calls are the stuff of nervous breakdowns and the constant mess/meal/snack/fight/boredom stops and starts make it nearly impossible to get anything done during normal business hours.

Thinking long and hard about how I wanted this summer to be different, it dawned on me that I not only needed to work smarter rather than harder this year, I needed to stop thinking as if I was in this thing alone, because I wasn’t. I had the help of my very capable 11-year-old son at my fingertips for the asking. [Read more…]