I have recently undergone an incredible increase in productivity. I went from struggling to find enough time without my two-year-old daughter underfoot to having extra time on my computer to actually browse through unnecessary websites and play a game or two (this is in addition to my regular workload).
My secret to success?
I gave her a laptop.
Okay, perhaps it’s not as simple as that, but I have determined a daily pattern that suits both of our needs.
My daughter is at the age where she pretty much wants to do whatever mommy does. When I’m cooking dinner, she sits on the counter and stirs. When I’m doing laundry, she sits in the laundry basket and demands a ride. When I’m reading a book, she likes to plop down into my lap and watch television. When I go to the bathroom, she seats herself on the bathmat and waits. In short, she is attached to my hip and won’t let go.
Until recently, this has been a big problem. I spent most of my time trying to divert her attention for long enough to get a few stolen minutes on the computer. She resented every bit of it and was probably feeling really jealous of the computer as a whole. Her coping mechanisms cycled between clinging tighter to me, throwing fits, and monopolizing the computer for herself.
It’s that last one that was causing problems, since I was hard put to find time to work. We have several toddler computer games, and my daughter is also a huge fan of the Disney and Nick Jr. websites. She is ridiculously good at using the laptop (she can out-touch-pad my parents any day of the week), and can go from the startup menu to her game of choice without batting an eye. Every time I tried to get on the computer to work, she pitched a fit and wanted to play with it herself.
My laptop is about three years old, and it’s a crappy store-brand model to begin with, so the technological capabilities are not exactly cutting-edge. I’ve been dying for a new laptop, and this seemed like the perfect time to get a new one. So I did.
It was nothing short of a miracle. My daughter is now the proud owner of the old laptop, and I have a shiny new model. She will gleefully inform visitors that it is “her ‘mputer” and refuse to let anyone touch it unless she needs help with something.
I no longer fight the attached-at-the-hip syndrome; I embrace it. We get up in the morning and do everything together. We eat together, play together, run errands together, create artwork together, do dishes together, and “work” on our computers together. For a few hours of every day, you can find us curled up on the couch next to one another, tapping away on our respective keyboards. Her games are educational enough to ease any bad-parent feelings I may have, and the amount of work I get done uninterrupted makes me positively giddy. When I feel like we’ve had enough computer time, we simply turn them off and move to a new project. Together.
I don’t know how long this will last, but it’s been a few weeks and things seem to be going really well. Obviously, going out and buying computers for everyone in the household isn’t a feasible solution for every work-at-home challenge, but for as long as my daughter wants to be exactly like mommy, I’m going to let her!
FREE 21-Page Internet Business Idea Guide
Enter your name and email below and we’ll send you our unique 21-page guide chock full of Internet business ideas – for free! Your information will be kept private, of course.
Christina Lemmey is the mother of two school-aged girls, a wife, and the owner of 
Well, we’re supposed to “take our daughters to work.” They didn’t say you had to leave the house to do it.
My toddler is still a bit too young to manipulate the computer herself, but she loves to sit with her two older siblings and “play” the games. Our desktop has all the games they are allowed to play and sits on a desk next to mine. So when I need to get a little work done, I invite them to join me. We’re all sitting side by side, and I don’t feel like I’m neglecting them for work.
Congrats on finding something that works for you and your daughter. Hopefully it won’t lose its novelty anytime soon! If it does, you could always check out the NOGGIN and PBS websites, too.
Lis Garrett’s last blog post..Just when you think it can’t get any worse . . .
Wait until she’s old enough to go outside by herself! Heaven! My children must have spent 6 hours Saturday riding bikes, playing with neighbors, “catching” squirrels and climbing trees. I’m inclined to say the “ecret” is good weather! My kids love the laptop, too. My 4 year old is constantly on that Nick Jr. site too.
Deb – I never really thought of it that way. Thanks for another angle to make me feel good about my WAH decisions!
Lis – I appreciate the extra websites! I may very well need them, since I am always looking for good/safe ones. (I found a BooBah one once that was creepy, creepy, creepy.)
Allena – You have pretty much always been my beacon for a brighter future. I found a preschool for the fall that is similar to the one you mentioned once (three days a week, a few hours at a time). I CANNOT WAIT.
THANK YOU! When we gave Jack a laptop everyone looked at us like we were nuts. He’s still far too little to “get it” and he prefers to lean back and type with his heels, but he loves it and it will often at least buy me enough time to respond to an email.
Naomi Dunford’s last blog post..Let’s Play a Game ? What’s Your Small Business?
Not only do I think this is a fabulous idea, I’ve done it with my own kids. Two fo which are full-growm. Considering one is now a computer programmer and the other on her way to being a graphic designer, I can’t say it’s harmed them.
Andrea’s last blog post..Using technology in your home(school)
My three year old does not like to be on the ‘puter with me or along side me. He will, however, draw in his coloring books while I “draw” in my notebook — so that’s a compromise worth making.
My one year old is perfectly happy to sit at his “desk” and play with a LeapPad while I type.
I did have to buy my husband a computer so he could check his ebay auctions without bothering me every 15 minutes!
Emmas last blog post..Sticking to Your Freelance Writing Goals