Children whilst working from home

[Mallowmarshmallow]

We have been fortunate in that we have not had to WFH with children around thus far (due to my DH being furloughed) but through the summer holiday I will be WFH with DS(6).

I was hoping to draw on the experience of those of you who have already been through it.

I will be working in an office which is in our garage behind the house so I am keen for DS to be with me rather than inside the house alone. Would you let a child of this age be alone in the house or insist he stayed with you?

Did you find anything in particular that enabled your child to entertain themselves independently? I imagine the iPad will be watched a lot but I'm keen for it not to be used all the time.

The nature of my job involves me being in hour long meetings with short breaks in between for most of the day (which are scheduled by someone else so I have no control over them) and I am almost always talking or involved in the conversation so during these times DS won't even really be able to ask me simple questions....I was planning to get him set up prior to each meeting so he has everything he needs for the next hour....

I would appreciate any advice anyone could share from what they've learned along the way.

You need childcare. What you are suggesting isn’t appropriate for a child so young.

Totally agree with PP. You can't leave a 6 year old alone in the house and I think it's totally unrealistic to expect them to entertain themselves beyond 20-30 mins.

I've was WFH with a 5 year old and 9 year old. I probably wouldn't leave them in house while i was outside. I have to work in my living room anyway so they are usually in same room or upstairs.
Definitely get them any food/drink before meeting starts. Apart from tablets etc my 5 year old was quite good at just pottering around playing. Eldest did lots of drawing and they both would play outside sometimes as well.
I am not sure if your work would allow you to be flexible if you are on calls all day but i found starting a bit earlier and having an extended lunch helped too so i could take them for a little walk/scoot or something.

Just to add, I'm not suggesting leaving him in the house. Quite to opposite, I'm suggesting he needs to be with me.

It will be two days a week.

There is no local childcare available, holiday clubs are closed and childminders are either closed or full.

I am self employed and support someone to access their meetings so I am required at the time that meetings are booked for.

Do you really think he won’t try talk to you for an hour if he is in the same room as you?