In June 2021 I resigned from my full-time position as Police Officer to be home with my daughter. I knew that I would not really be a stay at home mom because the plan was for me to find a remote job. So that I could work and be home with her. At the time she was about 8 months. A few months after I resigned I was hired for a temporary position as a HR Recruiting Assistant. No phone calls and limited Zoom Meetings. It was not a bad gig, but it did require TV time and frequent breaks to play outside.
So how did I manage? Here are a few things that helped.
I started early. I was able to arrange my schedule to start at 7 am. That was before my husband left for work and before my daughter woke up for the day. If I could have I would have started even earlier. I also brought my computer to bed at night. My daughter usually ends up in the bed with us, so incase it wasn’t a smooth morning getting out of the bed I could at least get started from there.
She watched TV. I know some people wont agree but it was never long, and I needed those moments of quiet time to get work done. Some times I sat with her and sometimes I sat the the table but some sort of TV time was necessary every day.
We went outside. Often, we went outside often. Every hour or so for at least 10 minutes. I was a quick recharge that we both needed.
I used lunchtime for nap time. My daughter wasn’t always and sometimes still isn’t the easiest to put down for a nap. Using my lunch to put her down, or at least get her asleep almost always ensured that I had enough time.
Contact naps. If I had a meeting at lunch time, or she wouldn’t fall asleep easily would stick her in the baby carrier so that I could stand and rock her while I worked.
If you have the flexibility in your workday try and schedule meetings around your toddlers schedule. There is nothing worse than having a meeting start right at nap time, it has happened to me.
I hope that these tips helped. These tips simple but are often overlooked when you have a crying toddler that wont let you put them down. Remember TV time is okay, and make sure you get outside.
Stay calm, you got this!
xo
