How do you balance your work with spending time with your children?
By Dominique25
@Dominique25 (9464)
United States
March 7, 2012 10:31am CST
Especially for those of us who work at home. What is your schedule like when it comes to working and spending time with your children? I think that it is a hard thing to balance. It takes so much time for me personally to earn online. I know there are suppose to be many ways to earn a decent amount. But those haven't worked for me. So with what I'm doing it is hard to earn. And I can't just go get a job outside the house as child care cost too much. And it would really be defeating the purpose and not to include if I would have to drive a ways to get to work. Thanks for sharing your experience.
6 responses
@Jotomy (6322)
• India
14 Mar 12
Hi dominique, since my son is just 6 years now i can't leave him and go for the job. That is why i am working online to earn some money. But very hard to work online and get money. Whenever he go to school i will come online and do my work. Kids need our support and we must always with them otherwise what they do they doesn't know. Only when they go to school we will have little time to spend for our work.
Have a nice day. 
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
20 Mar 12
I agree that it can be hard to take care of all that needs to be taken care of. Sometimes I wish there was more hours in the day. But then I'm sure I would find ways to use up all that time as well. I hope that you are able to get a lot of work done while your son is at school.
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
8 Mar 12
I agree that it is a very difficult thing to do. I worked outside the home when my oldest daughter was little, and I thought that was difficult, but at least when I got home from work it was clear to everybody that it was "family time", even if we had to clean or do homework or whatever - we did it as a family. Now, I am trying to earn a little money online while I take care of my little one, and it is actually more difficult. It is hard to explain to a young child why Mommy is home but can't do something immediately, because she is working - they just do not understand.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
8 Mar 12
Yes you understand exactly what I'm feeling. I want to spend as much quality time with my daughter as I can. But it is very difficult to do when it takes me a long time to earn online. I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I'm hoping that with time I will be able to find something that will allow me to make a decent income but that doesn't require all of my time. I try and remind myself that we do have to work. And that there are many moms who have to work outside the home or who have to spend a lot of time doing work at home. So I have to remember not to beat myself up. That not everyone has the ability to just focus all of their time on their child/ren. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I appreciate it.
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
8 Mar 12
I don't have children myself, but I know it is important to keep the balance between work and family, if I start my own family, I would definitely trying my best to provide the time and my personal dedication to my family. While at work, I would do the best to get my work, and hopefully I can provide what I can to my family from my work too.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
8 May 12
It is a good thing that you want to balance your priorities with your family when you start one. It is very important for us to try and do this. It is difficult at times because there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. So we've got to prioritize and let go of non essential activities.
@flamez3r0 (319)
• Puerto Rico
7 Mar 12
I admit its hard. Maybe that's one of those question modern philosophers should get their mind on. I left my job because I was missing my son's life, and I started on pages like this one to be able to get some kind of money to help with the bills (although to be sincere I haven't spend as much as I want to on this one). What I do is I only attend these pages while he is in school or sleeping. Whenever he wants to play or needs help with homework I just stop whatever I'm doing, as to avoid making the same mistakes as before. I'm lucky since now he talks to me enough to ask me for help or to play games with him, but I admit sometimes it's hard.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
8 May 12
That is good. Yeah I understand leaving your work when you feel that you need to spend more time with your son. Doing work while your son is in school or sleeping is a good thing. You are able to get what's needed done. Then when he is home or up you can spend time with him. I'm continously trying to balance this.
@annenhie (5)
• Hong Kong
8 Mar 12
It's all a matter of time management really. And whether you have the discipline and self control to follow a time schedule you have set for yourself. Most people think working at home gives them freedom to spend more time with the family but honestly for most people working home also means working more hours.
For me personally, I set a working schedule and a time I could spend with my family. I abide by my schedule as religiously as I can and if there are necessary revisions on the schedule, I see to it I still spend that time I intend to give for my family.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
8 May 12
I agree time management is an important thing. I'm able to get things done better when I have a schedule of everything that needs to be taken care of. I'm glad to hear that you stick to your schedule.
@mabilikoe (6)
• Lesotho
8 Mar 12
Dominique, I am with you on this one, I too would like to balance the too. I feel so guilty when I try to brush off my child to attend to work, but at the same time have to make ends meet...
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
8 May 12
Yeah it's important for us to keep up with our financial responsibilities and we have to take care of and spend time with our child. It is a hard thing to do especially if our work isn't paying what we would like. I'm hoping to change this in the future.
