transition to WAH w/toddler, where should my "office" go

[Anonymous]

Here are the options:

I'll be working at home from a fairly small home with a toddler, soon a newborn, and a nanny

Desk crammed in guest room: upstairs
Desk in basement TV room

Upstairs/guest room
pros: I get natural light: I can have a big wall bulletin board for planning/strategy stuff; kids can use basement for playing.
cons: I can hear everything in house and kids come up and downstairs for naps/diapers/potty

Basement
pros: I can spread out and sit on couch for computer intensive stuff. I won't disturb kids/nanny. Have a bathroom, etc. I can also go out the basement door to leave the house for meetings, etc.
cons: Huge chunks of my day without any natural light (but I know lots of people do that so maybe I'd get used to it quickly). I can't spread out/leave post-it notes on the walls, etc. Takes room away from kids (But they have a small playroom and the living room so that's probably fine).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are the options:

I'll be working at home from a fairly small home with a toddler, soon a newborn, and a nanny

Desk crammed in guest room: upstairs
Desk in basement TV room

Upstairs/guest room
pros: I get natural light: I can have a big wall bulletin board for planning/strategy stuff; kids can use basement for playing.
cons: I can hear everything in house and kids come up and downstairs for naps/diapers/potty

Basement
pros: I can spread out and sit on couch for computer intensive stuff. I won't disturb kids/nanny. Have a bathroom, etc. I can also go out the basement door to leave the house for meetings, etc.
cons: Huge chunks of my day without any natural light (but I know lots of people do that so maybe I'd get used to it quickly). I can't spread out/leave post-it notes on the walls, etc. Takes room away from kids (But they have a small playroom and the living room so that's probably fine).

What about that room?

[Anonymous]

I would go with the basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would go with the basement.

+1. That will force you to get out and get some sunlight. Which is what people in artificial light offices should do and never do as well.

[Anonymous]

Have a window installed. I would go in basement.

[Anonymous]

The bathroom is the key reason I'd vote basement. I worked in my bedroom with attached bathroom, and I never left it during the day. I'd pack a lunch and drink and bring it up to the bedroom/office to avoid disrupting the kids/nanny (the baby was very clingy so it was better to stay out of sight). If you don't have a bathroom attached to the guest room.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks, I think the basement makes sense from an interruption perspective. I wish it were as easy as installing a window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bathroom is the key reason I'd vote basement. I worked in my bedroom with attached bathroom, and I never left it during the day. I'd pack a lunch and drink and bring it up to the bedroom/office to avoid disrupting the kids/nanny (the baby was very clingy so it was better to stay out of sight). If you don't have a bathroom attached to the guest room.

This is really helpful. Upstairs I'd be using the same bathroom as the kids/nanny so they'd for sure hear me or see me. Makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Get a sunlamp

[Anonymous]

Nanny here who has worked with many work at home parents. I think you definitely need to go the basement route, since you said that the nanny will be new to your family. Nanny will obviously just be getting to bond with the newborn, and will just be starting to bond with the toddler as well. And both kids will be adjusting to having you in the building at all. adding on to that that you are going back-and-forth during the day (not to mention kids hearing you on phone calls etc. in your office) is going to make it very difficult for the nanny to build a strong relationship with your kids. Set up your office in the basement, and if you find that you absolutely hate having no natural light, you can reevaluate after around six months, at which point the nanny will be more bonded to your kids, and you will be able to get her feedback as well on how to make the upstairs room work. in the meantime, I agree that you should invest in some great lighting for the basement.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Good point 14:30, although I wasn't clear and the nanny has been with us for a while. It's the newborn who will be new (not until this summer).

I'll look into the sunlamp. My issue is more claustrophobia, but there is a door and it's not a tiny room so I think the basement it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Good point 14:30, although I wasn't clear and the nanny has been with us for a while. It's the newborn who will be new (not until this summer).

I'll look into the sunlamp. My issue is more claustrophobia, but there is a door and it's not a tiny room so I think the basement it is.

In that case, have you talked it over with your nanny? Ask her to help you figure out a way to make upstairs work if at all possible.

[Anonymous]

having a b-room near YOU is a big deal- I work at home and having an en suite bathroom has saved me (when I go out to pee otherwise the kids see me and it messes everything up... they cry when they see me and I leave, etc.). maybe especially true if you are in the last months of pregnancy with this move.

that said light is really important to me. if you decide to go the upstairs route, to make it less 'crammed', I'd get rid of the guest bed unless you need it regularly and get an inflatable bed. your daily, all-day comfort is more important than guests' comfort 2x/year.

why not try each fo ra week and see what works for you?