struggled, where do you work at home with small kids?

[Anonymous]

When DH works, he is in 100% work mode with many project deadlines. He has conference calls all the time with speaker on. We telework at home, and DS4 stays at home these days.

Our townhouse first floor is living room/dinning room/kitchen & upstairs are bedrooms. Our townhouse is small & kind of open. DS4 is super loud & energetic, and DH gets annoyed whenever he is on conference calls while DS4 is around. He works at dinning room, so I have to take him & my work laptop upstair staying in his bedroom. It is more easier & fun for DS4 to stay in the first floor because it is bigger space & most of this toys are there. He normally just jumps on his mattress when he is send to his bedroom, and there are not much to do. The problem is that I have to telework as well but on a little bit flexible schedule, and it is stressful for me to yell at DS all the time to be quiet while staying at first floor or grab him upstair on & off to stay quiet. I 100% take care of him during the daycare, and I am struggling as well. I am flexible where to work because I don't need to take any conference call at all.

So question is for parents with small kids that work from home with no office room, where do you work? Our master bedroom has no office desk & chair, and it is better to send DH to upstair to work? Buy a table & chair for him in bedroom? Any recommendations? Their company says he will hae to work from home till September at earliest for social distancing?

[Anonymous]

This is for your husband to figure out. You’re doing the hard part—double duty of working and parenting. DH needs to deal. Geez.

[Anonymous]

OP - we just had a big fight because I complain that I have to take DS4 upstair & downstair all the way around his conference call schedule. He can have 5-7 conference call every day, and each one lasts 15 min to 2 hours. It is crazy. And, it is all on me to take care of DS4 during the daytime. I understand that there is no way that he can help to take care during his workhours, and it sounds really unfair to me. And, it is difficult for DS4 to shut up his mouth, and he is rebellious sometimes. He gets a lot of stress these days since working from home because of his work culture. But I am mad as well.

[Anonymous]

I think it makes the most sense for DH to have a desk and chair in a bedroom located so he can have a neutral background (and if he isn't behind a closed door he should have headphones on so that you don't have to listen to his coworkers). If that doesn't work, maybe you could move toys into your child's room so he could play and you could work in the next door bedroom.

I usually work at the kitchen table, my daughter will pop in and talk to me or get on video during meetings. I just mute unless I'm talking so she isn't disruptive. People are pretty accepting these days. I was a call yesterday and the person's kid burned something in the kitchen during the call, it was just another day at the office

[Anonymous]

DH moves to the bedroom and shuts the door. You and the kid get the run of the house. OR DH starts parenting.

[Anonymous]

I am working at our dining room table right now. When I have a conference call I normally retreat to our basement so DD can stay on the main floor and I won't be bothered. You can't set up your telework spot in the middle of the main living area and expect it to be quiet.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t your dh work upstairs? If he needs to spread stuff out get a card table that can fold away.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a townhouse too. DH, who is on the phone all day, works from the master bedroom (top floor).

I work from the kitchen table so I can help our 5yo, who is pretty good at independent play but still needs a parent close by. I'm rarely ever on the phone or zoom, so it's not a big deal for my work area to be noisy/kid filled.

[Anonymous]

I'm in my bedroom currently while DH and our baby and toddler are downstairs. They have the run of the entire house. I moved a desk and chair up here.

Side note- I miss my office chair and my huge monitors SO much. Daily I wish I were sitting in that chair. My back aches here no matter where I sit. I'm not going to buy a chair either because we don't have a home office that I could put it in later.

[Anonymous]

When we didn't have an office, we would work in the guest room which had a desk, or at the dining room table and go outside onto the balcony for calls.

[Anonymous]

We are in a townhouse with two adults who need to work and two kids who need to do schoolwork. Husband works at the desk in the basement early in the morning and in the afternoon. I work in our bedroom on the top floor - we don’t have a desk there so I stack up two storage bins and set my laptop on top of them. Younger child uses the desk in the mid-morning for school, and older child does schoolwork in their bedroom. It’s not ideal but we do our best to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Person on the phone gets a bedroom. He can use a default background but he can’t monopolize the first floor like that - WTH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in my bedroom currently while DH and our baby and toddler are downstairs. They have the run of the entire house. I moved a desk and chair up here.

Side note- I miss my office chair and my huge monitors SO much. Daily I wish I were sitting in that chair. My back aches here no matter where I sit. I'm not going to buy a chair either because we don't have a home office that I could put it in later.

Would you be allowed to go get it and bring it home. On separate days, my coworkers and I have basically stripped our office-we brought home furniture, tech, and plants. We also took breakroom snacks and supplies and donated them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH moves to the bedroom and shuts the door. You and the kid get the run of the house. OR DH starts parenting.

Yes, this. Why is he not helping during the day? He needs to take breaks and help out.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, if you are doing all of the childcare with no work time for yourself, DH can work in the car.