By Dawn Arkin

Working from home sounds like a wonderful compromise for the mother of a young child. You can save the cost of daycare, get to watch your children grow, and even earn money to help support the household.

The reality of it is it takes a lot of work to keep your workload current, your kids needs met, and your household running smoothly without alienating your child, or missing an important deadline.

Its proven parenting fact that your kids wont need you until you are on an important call, or nearing a crucial deadline. Then they will yell, cry, or otherwise demand your attention while you are trying to get, or give necessary information. It can be very frustrating being interrupted while youre on a roll. So how do you keep your kids busy and out of your hair without feeling like a terrible mother?

Doing your job with your kids around isnt easy. But with a few helpful hints, and some creativity, you can get a lot of work done and still spend time with your kids.

The first thing you should do is invest in a good quality headset for your office phone. Youll want it to have a mute feature, and an adjustable volume control. The mute feature is great for when your child starts yelling for you; just let your caller know and click the button. You can deal quickly with your child and still remain professional with your client.

Plan some easy crafts for your child to do each day. Crayons, markers, coloring books, something simple your child can do while youre talking. Also, keep a box of age appropriate construction-style toys for your child near your desk. They are wonderful tools for creative children and when that important call comes in, all you have to do is ask your child to build you something special for some quiet business time.

Another helpful thing is to keep a box of old toys and favorite treats by your desk. When the phone rings, pull out an old favorite of your childs and watch them quietly play while you talk.

A way to get your child to respect your telephone time is to use a timer when youre on the phone. Set the time to keep track of how long youre on your phone call. Then be sure to spend that much time with your child later on. If you respect their time, theyll learn to respect yours.

Give your child their own work space. Use a small table and chair as their desk. Then you can outfit your childs work desk with age appropriate items; paper, colors, scissors, glue, even an old phone you dont use anymore. Many times, children want to be just like mommy, and thats why they try to get into the middle of everything you do. If you give them their own assignments, with their own space, you will find they are quieter when you are trying to get your work done.

As a last resort, use a video or DVD as a distraction. Keep some movies your child likes to watch, or ones they havent seen yet, to keep your child entertained during that important call. Remember its not good to let your child watch TV all day, but a half hour or so wont hurt.

If none of these hints work, you may just have to go into a spare bedroom or the bathroom and close the door. And learn to talk fast.

You can get the job done, and spend quality time with your kids, if you just learn to plan your time accordingly. And find creative ways to keep your child entertained during the day.

Dawn Arkin is a Stay-At-Home-Mom who writes while caring for her two young children. This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Facsimile.Com/ which is a site for Fax Machines.