How to Survive Working at Home with Kids

Do you want to know the key to survive working at home with kids? I’m sharing my top tips with you for less stress and more productivity all around.

It’s another week of homeschool/virtual learning and I’m here to tell you that you can survive. Some days my kids drive me absolutely crazy and I think I’m ready to drop them both off at somebody’s school. They’re hungry every 5 minutes, they want me to play with them or they need me to get something. Hell sometimes they don’t even want anything and just call my name for fun.

Homeschooling can be tough for families. If you’re just starting out or feeling overwhelmed and not sure how you’re going to handle it all, that’s totally normal. It’s a true test of how much you’re able to multi-task when you’re a work at home mom. On one hand you’re trying to juggle everything that you need to get done for your business and on the other hand you’re trying to make sure that your kids make it to the next grade. I mean we really should win an award for being able to do it all.

Some days I really just want to throw in the towel though because the juggling just gets to be too much. Throw in the tween attitude and restless baby on top of that, and honestly it’s a miracle I still have all my edges. If you have struggle days like me here’s some things that have been helping me make it through the weeks while we’re at home.

How to Survive Working at Home with Kids

Start with a schedule

Create a schedule that your kids can keep up with. Kids need structure just like if they were in school. This homeschool schedule we created might be a great place to start. Remember not to overload your child’s schedule and to make sure they are getting breaks during the day.

Always have snacks on hand.

If your kids are like mine, they’re always wanting a snack. Healthier snacks fill them up a lot longer. Think granola bars, Nutella, fruits, etc. If you want to make things fun when it’s snack time you could make a little DIY by adding snack names to popsicle sticks and letting the kids pick a popsicle stick when it’s snack time. What they’ll be getting for snack will be a fun surprise to look forward to.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Make sure they’re drinking lots of water throughout the day. Did you know that if you’re dehydrated your body will send hunger cues to your brain? The average person should drink half their body weight in (oz) water daily. If your child weighs 40 pounds then they should be drinking at least 20oz of water every day. A cute bottle like this will keep their water cold throughout the day and help you keep track of their consumption. Babies who are still drinking milk or formula are different so you’ll want to check with your doctor.

Set strict eating times.

As a rule of thumb, toddlers should eat every 2-3 hours and elementary aged kids should eat every 3-4 hours. Because my kids are both of those ages, I choose to feed them right in the middle. They eat every 3 hours. In the beginning of the week I create a menu and list every meal and snack they’ll eat. This eliminates any frustration around what they’ll be eating and I’m not scrambling trying to come up with a meal plan at the last minute. It also makes grocery shopping a lot easier. By planning in advance I’m able to stick to a budget.

Remember to have fun.

This time at home is stressful for everyone and you’ll want to look back and remember that at least you made the best of it. Try to incorporate at least 1 fun activity every day into your kids schedule. It can be something simple as printing them new coloring pages for free time or doing a fun family DIY like this handprint art together.

Do you have any tried and true tips for how to survive working at home with kids?