Help me figure out how to work from home with a toddler

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That arrangement sucks. Also, you say your hours will be 1-9 p.m. but in a later post say you don't know what your hours will be
I don't mean to sound rude, but frankly, I would put off the job until your child is in preschool, it sounds like you could get this job anytime. What did you do before you had your DC?

Op. My hour's could be anytime between 1 - 9 pm but I will have my schedule when training starts. I could work as little as 15 hour's per week to begin with. This job is seasonal with potential to be full time. I do have a very close friend who wants to take care of my son in the weekday afternoons. The job was not hard to get so I am confident that I could get it again in the future. I really do want to work. I am just a bit afraid I may be setting myself up to fail. I wish we had a bigger place. I really concerned about the noise from my son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Op. I don't know how to find a mother's helper. We live in an apartment community and our neighborhood is the center of most major employers and apartments. Most families live further out. We live in Florida. It's a weird area.

Are you always this helpless?

Listen, you aren't going to be able to work - especially being on the phone!! - and care for a young child. Period. It's hard enough to just be in the same house and work while someone else is watching the kids. YOU need to figure something out, nobody is going to be able to tell you "OK, go to this website in Florida and here is where all the mothers helpers post."

Sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.

Pp no need to be nasty. Op said earlier that her SAHM friend can do daytime childcare. She's concerned about the time her husband will be in charge.

[Anonymous]

You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Op. I don't know how to find a mother's helper. We live in an apartment community and our neighborhood is the center of most major employers and apartments. Most families live further out. We live in Florida. It's a weird area.

Are you always this helpless?

Listen, you aren't going to be able to work - especially being on the phone!! - and care for a young child. Period. It's hard enough to just be in the same house and work while someone else is watching the kids. YOU need to figure something out, nobody is going to be able to tell you "OK, go to this website in Florida and here is where all the mothers helpers post."

Sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.

Pp no need to be nasty. Op said earlier that her SAHM friend can do daytime childcare. She's concerned about the time her husband will be in charge.

+1

[Anonymous]

Sitter until your husband gets home, then he takes over.

Have your husband do as much as he can outside the home, but look into sound dampening for your closet. Keep doors closed, and look into egg crate foam, or other insulation. A good headset and microphone will help. You know how in some telemarketing calls you can hear a lot of background chatter and in others you can't? A good headset and mic can make a world of difference.

[Anonymous]

You get a mom's helper/teenager to come over.

After nap, he can watch TV for, I'm guessing you'll allow 1 hr with, then find a way to tire him out/build an appetite for dinner....unless your DH will feel like doing it once he steps foot inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

Op. I am just so depressed not working. I was a nanny for 8 years before I became a SAHM. I tried to find a job where I could bring my child to work with me but I haven't had luck. Florida doesn't have a good market for nannies. I really want to work in another field. I am burnt of from taking care of young children. It's so draining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That arrangement sucks. Also, you say your hours will be 1-9 p.m. but in a later post say you don't know what your hours will be
I don't mean to sound rude, but frankly, I would put off the job until your child is in preschool, it sounds like you could get this job anytime. What did you do before you had your DC?

Op. My hour's could be anytime between 1 - 9 pm but I will have my schedule when training starts. I could work as little as 15 hour's per week to begin with. This job is seasonal with potential to be full time. I do have a very close friend who wants to take care of my son in the weekday afternoons. The job was not hard to get so I am confident that I could get it again in the future. I really do want to work. I am just a bit afraid I may be setting myself up to fail. I wish we had a bigger place. I really concerned about the noise from my son.

I think that, between your friend taking the kid during the day, having your husband handle the kid in the evenings, and working away from others in the closet, you’ve developed enough of a plan to get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The worst case scenario sounds like your kid is noisy and you get fired. But it was an easy to get, low wage job that’s actually happening at a relatively inconvenient time. And maybe I’m wrong, but it doesnt sound like the income will make or break your family’s budget. To me, the stakes seem pretty low. Just give it a go and don’t worry so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That arrangement sucks. Also, you say your hours will be 1-9 p.m. but in a later post say you don't know what your hours will be
I don't mean to sound rude, but frankly, I would put off the job until your child is in preschool, it sounds like you could get this job anytime. What did you do before you had your DC?

Op. My hour's could be anytime between 1 - 9 pm but I will have my schedule when training starts. I could work as little as 15 hour's per week to begin with. This job is seasonal with potential to be full time. I do have a very close friend who wants to take care of my son in the weekday afternoons. The job was not hard to get so I am confident that I could get it again in the future. I really do want to work. I am just a bit afraid I may be setting myself up to fail. I wish we had a bigger place. I really concerned about the noise from my son.

I think that, between your friend taking the kid during the day, having your husband handle the kid in the evenings, and working away from others in the closet, you’ve developed enough of a plan to get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The worst case scenario sounds like your kid is noisy and you get fired. But it was an easy to get, low wage job that’s actually happening at a relatively inconvenient time. And maybe I’m wrong, but it doesnt sound like the income will make or break your family’s budget. To me, the stakes seem pretty low. Just give it a go and don’t worry so much.

+ 1

This is really good advice. Op you will be fine. I work from home in a customer service representative position and I work odd hours. It's hard but not impossible to do this with a toddler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I accepted a position working from home from 1pm - 9 pm. This position is 3 weekdays and weekends. I have a 2 year old who still take 2-3 hour naps and my husband is home by 5:30 pm. I am actually more concerned about the 5:30-9 pm chuck of time because my toddler can be really loud and we live in a 1 bedroom apartment. I have to work from our walk in closet. It's the quietest place in our apartment. I wish I could rent an office space or something. I have to be directly connected to the internet with a cable cord though and office space in my area is very expensive. Help me brain storm ways to make this work. I really want to make this work. My 2 year old goes to sleep around 9 pm- 10 pm. He's a great sleeper.

Why does a 2yo go to bed that late?? My 7yo doesn’t even go to bed that late (sleeps 8:30-7).

You said he doesn’t wake up until 8:30am. I’d work on slowly shifting his bedtime and wake time to earlier—say, 8:30p-7:30a. This would be more in line with a preschool schedule, since you say he’ll be going at age 4. Switching now may make the transition a tiny bit easier when he goes.

Also, that’ll help give your husband a bit of a break if he can get your son to bed by 8:30 and then have some downtime before he goes to bed himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

Op. I am just so depressed not working. I was a nanny for 8 years before I became a SAHM. I tried to find a job where I could bring my child to work with me but I haven't had luck. Florida doesn't have a good market for nannies. I really want to work in another field. I am burnt of from taking care of young children. It's so draining.

Is there any job that you can do outside of the house that pays enough (or has enough growth) to make childcare worth it? I mean, if you are depressed and burnt out from watching your child, seems like adding a job while still watching your child is a recipe for disaster. Honestly, this schedule sounds awful with very little upside, not just for you, but for your husband and child also. There's no downtime for anyone! Find a job outside of the house and get childcare.

[Anonymous]

You need a couple things:

1. A daycare or nanny. If the nanny comes to your house, you need to rent an office space since it seems like your place is small.

2. An earlier bedtime for your child. Ideally, the child would go to bed earlier and your DH or nanny would put the child to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

Op. I am just so depressed not working. I was a nanny for 8 years before I became a SAHM. I tried to find a job where I could bring my child to work with me but I haven't had luck. Florida doesn't have a good market for nannies. I really want to work in another field. I am burnt of from taking care of young children. It's so draining.

Is there any job that you can do outside of the house that pays enough (or has enough growth) to make childcare worth it? I mean, if you are depressed and burnt out from watching your child, seems like adding a job while still watching your child is a recipe for disaster. Honestly, this schedule sounds awful with very little upside, not just for you, but for your husband and child also. There's no downtime for anyone! Find a job outside of the house and get childcare.

Pp are you really this dense? Op was a nanny before becoming a SAHM. I don't think it's possible for her to find a job that's pays enough to pay for decent childcare. Lots of couples work alternating schedule's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

Op. I am just so depressed not working. I was a nanny for 8 years before I became a SAHM. I tried to find a job where I could bring my child to work with me but I haven't had luck. Florida doesn't have a good market for nannies. I really want to work in another field. I am burnt of from taking care of young children. It's so draining.

Is there any job that you can do outside of the house that pays enough (or has enough growth) to make childcare worth it? I mean, if you are depressed and burnt out from watching your child, seems like adding a job while still watching your child is a recipe for disaster. Honestly, this schedule sounds awful with very little upside, not just for you, but for your husband and child also. There's no downtime for anyone! Find a job outside of the house and get childcare.

Yeah I’m just not sure how this arrangement will be any less depressing.....but kind of agree with the previous suggestion to give it a go and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, you can try again when your son goes to preschool, and concentrate on finding more activities to get him out of the apartment and meet other SAHMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to work. The job doesn't sound great. It's causing you a lot of stress....why don't you just wait until your kid is 4?

Op. I am just so depressed not working. I was a nanny for 8 years before I became a SAHM. I tried to find a job where I could bring my child to work with me but I haven't had luck. Florida doesn't have a good market for nannies. I really want to work in another field. I am burnt of from taking care of young children. It's so draining.

Just saying I sympathize. The job market is FL is very weak compared to DMV.