28 Apr How to Manage Working Full Time With Young Children

Mondays are a killer for me.  I work full-time nights. That’s 12 hours every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then I come home on Monday and try to manage my young children until my husband comes home from work. He will then take over so that I can sleep. Somehow I have to stay awake and functional until he gets home. So far, this is the only way we’ve figured out how to manage working full time and young children.

A couple of years ago, we had an incident that convinced us that we did not want to use daycare for our children. We decided to do what it would take to keep them home. That decision was rough – and even more rough are these Mondays. I don’t think I would recommend this to anyone, but as parents, we do what we believe is best for our children.

Don’t Stop Moving!

The best way to manage is to stay active. As tempting as it is, a short little nap is the worst thing you can do. The minute I sit down, it’s OVER!    Today, in my attempt to stay busy, I decided to take the kids to the library as we had a couple armfuls of books to return.  The library was packed!  I don’t know what the deal was but it was swarming with kids!  Clark and Luci had a great time playing with the other kids.  Today they chose the kitchen play area and were very busy serving “tea” and “coffee” to all of the kids at the table.  Luci declared herself the “cooker lady” and worked hard at rearranging pots and pans in the sink.  

I started to fall asleep after about two hours, so we had to keep moving.  We went to Home Depot and bought flowers to plant.  I want to get Clark and Luci interested and involved in planting the flowers.  Unfortunately, I have a not-so-green thumb, so I have to buy hardy plants that are kill-resistant.  For that reason, we usually end up with geraniums.  Clark and Luci were very interested until little creatures began emerging from the soil, then all was abandoned as they were completely absorbed in an inchworm.  

Watching these children discover and delight in new things is the biggest thrill for me. It will even keep me awake and excited with them until their Dad comes home.

It’s Not Easy, But You Can Do It!

If you are questioning whether you can work full-time, avoid day care, and even homeschool your children – you can! I’m not here to tell you it’s easy. Sometimes it’s not even fun. I remember the hard days when I set the children loose in the playroom and I was so exhausted I lay across the doorway and fell asleep. My whole goal was just to keep them in one safe place. But it’s possible and you will have the satisfaction knowing that you are doing the most important work!