Work Hazards
Working from home with children is an exercise in efficiency. It's easier in the fall, when school and daycare offer some free time to focus. But summertime is tricky. I can usually cobble together child care for brief daytime phone interviews, thanks to other work-from-home moms and a 13-year-old babysitter who lives next door.
When I must make phone calls for work with the kids at home, I turn to On Demand cable. I've learned to keep water and milk within reach, just in case someone decides they must have milk immediately and it cannot wait even for two minutes when I'm in the middle of an interview. I give them snacks - stuff they don't usually get, like gummy fruit, goldfish crackers, M&Ms - in exchange for a few minutes of uninterrupted time.
Today, despite all my preemptive efforts, Sawyer found me in the middle of a phone interview. I heard him coming.
"Mommy!" he said. "POOP!!"
I waved him away, pointing at the door with wide eyes and exaggerated hand motions, willing him to just stop and play for a minute. Silently. Without saying poop again.
He ignored me and put his earnest little face close to mine.
"POOP, MOMMY!!" he said. "POOP! POOOOOOOOOP!"
Sigh. I guess you can't prepare for everything.
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3 comments:
this is the best post EVER.
hahahahahahahaha....sigh.
What did the person on the other line think?
Fortunately, the guy was a laid-back artist with four kids of his own. He laughed and let me call him back. Whew! I love people who take things in stride like that.
But when it comes to corporate types - even for very short interviews - I almost always take the kids to a friend's house or have my neighbor babysit them. Or else I just tell the interviewees up front that I am home with my kids at the moment and please bear with me. Most people are OK with that. Since we spend most of our time playing, I don't feel too guilty about a little Scooby-Doo or Jetsons once in a while when I have a softer interview. It's just part of the juggle.
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