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Kids In The House

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I know with my kids, if I'm not hearing some degree of noise; [i.e. play], from them, it probably means one of them is not

feeling well, or they are coming down with a cold.

My world is blessed with two very artistic and rambounous boys; 6 years and 3 years old. With their play and with their

singing; [they love to sing Country music at the top of their lungs!]; they have the ability to raise the noise level in our house to a "heaven-bending" volume in 9 seconds flat!

And while I loved to hear them hard at play, the sporatic and unpredictable noise [play], posed challenges at times when I was doing sales calls, or when clients called with final questions about starting a business relationship with me.

Clients don't wait, when they want to have questions answered and they don't always call at the best times. Sometimes these calls would come through when the kids were eating or doing activities that were not so noisy. Great! But.... most of the time, they did not!

6 year olds are pretty predictable. You basically know when they are going to make noise. But, if you know anything about

the '3's', you're already familiar with the unpredictability of when the next scream, or loud laugh will erupt!

Some clients understood. I would say: 'yes I know you can hear kids in the background. That is why I do this business.

So I can be at home with them". For other clients, that was not okay. I had some near misses and some fair size loses

in bringing people in, to work with me in my business because of this home-based situation.

Over the course of working out of my home, I have had many a conversation with other work at home Moms [WAHMs], and at times have doubled over in laughter at some of the ingenious, and sometimes silly tactics they've pulled just to get a moment of quiet when they needed to portray the illusion of "executive-office professionalism" for the really important calls.

Some of them would hide in the bathroom. Others would sneak downstairs, or sneak out into the garage. The funniest one

I heard was the hiding in the closet trick... so the kids would not be making noise right under-foot. That one really made me laugh, because I have pulled similar tactics just trying to get a moments peace! And, yes, I have to admit, I have used them

to make my business workable too!

Oh I know... I hear some of you saying... why don't you just get your kids into daycare, or find a babysitter or a Nanny

to take them. Well, that makes perfect sense of course. But for the many WAHMs who have given up jobs to work at home,

first, they do not want to be giving the majority of what they earn to those services; although they are very valuable services. And, second, there's that guilt.

The guilt we feel because it was our choice to stop working at jobs and stay at home so we could be with our kids. That was a conscious choice we made. So when we start looking at having to farm our kids out to daycare, babysitters, or bringing in a Nanny, guilt; as to the purpose of why we were staying home in the first place starts to manifest.

So what is the solution? Is there really a solution to how to make sales with noisy kids in the house? Well, I don't know

if this solution is for you... But I do believe I found the right solution for me!

I don't have to hide in the closet anymore. I don't disappear into the bathroom to talk muffled into the towels, lol! I no longer work 5 to 9 hours a day on the phone during play time, or any time, doing follow ups and sales calls.

Clients no longer call the house at unpredictable times, or at all for that matter. My kids no longer have to worry about how much noise they make in the house! And, I'll still make a nice 5-6 figure contribution to my family's income this year!

What did I discover to make my sales business work for everyone in the household? Well.... that's another story that needs to be explained at another time!

My typing time is up - and my kids are calling me to come outside and play water-bomb balloons with them! Got to go ; )!

Kids In The House

That makes it hard to succeed as you work at home. But it does not mean it's impossible. What you need is better planning.

Set Up a Work Schedule

When do you need to work? When do you work best? When will your family let you work?

Think about these things as you determine the best work schedule for you. This is something that will vary from family to family, but the general rules include figuring out when the kids aren't going to be wanting your attention. It can be early in the morning before they get up, during school hours, naptime or after they go to bed.

But if you just can't get a good schedule going, it may be time for daycare of one sort or another. This may or may not mean paid daycare. You may have family members who can help or friends you can trade babysitting with.

Set Up the Rules

Talk to your family and set up rules to allow yourself to get work accomplished. The older the kids get, the better they can be about allowing you to work undisturbed.

Younger children will need more time and be less understanding, but you can work with them to make working easier on you both. Try setting up a little desk for your young child, for example. He or she can work side by side with you. If they love imitation, this works wonders.

Don't forget to include everyone in the house in your rules. If you have to work during mealtimes, who is doing the meal preparation? Can you stop for meals? You should, if at all possible.

If you have a separate room for an office, an easy rule to set up is that if the door is closed, you are not to be disturbed. Open, and people can come in if they need you, but you should still be mostly left alone.

Share Your Goals with Your Family

It can really help if your family knows what you are working towards. Talk to them about what you are trying to achieve and how you are trying to get there. Don't focus only on your long term goals; talk about what you want to do on a given day, week, etc.

You can also talk about rewards for when you meet certain goals. A family day, for example. You don't have to spend money on rewards when time does quite well too.

Keep an Eye on the Balance

Most important is to be aware of how well you are balancing your work and your life. You still need to have fun as a family. If your schedule is really interfering with family life, rework it!

Never Give Up

Perhaps not quite never, but remember that working at home is not easy, especially in the early days. You do not want to give up easily. If things aren't working out, stop, take a look and see if you can figure out where things are going wrong.

Sometimes it becomes necessary to combine working at home some of the time with working outside the home, just so that you can get things started without it ending in financial disaster. If this is necessary, so be it. Succeeding when you work at home sometimes requires sacrifice.

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In The House Tv Show, by Mark Yarbrough

About Author

Both Tracey Anne & Stephanie Foster are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Tracey Anne has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Home Businesses and Website Traffic. Tracey, of partners Tracey Anne, is owner of the Internet's leading promotion Systems dedicated to marketing home based business using a successful, proven and guaranteed System. For more details, go to:. Tracey Anne's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.

Stephanie Foster has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Shopping and Pets. Stephanie Foster runs as a resource for work from home parents. Her site offers more. Stephanie Foster's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.

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