If you can WFH and get a reasonable amount of work done with your child present

[Ohmygoshposh]

….what age is your child??

(obviously I don’t plan to WFH with child present if there’s any way of avoiding it, just as we all know school holidays are much longer than annual leave entitlement, and there aren’t always clubs available (eg there are no local holiday clubs operating over Xmas) and not everyone has family or friends that can ask for childcare, and you know, sometimes needs must)

10 years old and I don’t hear a peep out of her until at least 11:30am when she drags her bum out of her pit and goes to make herself some food. A few years ago it would have been impossible though.

From 9 if they were on screens all day.

My 60 year old Dad interrupted a meeting with his jolly japes the other day so maybe there is no age old enough...

It started being really ok to have dd around at age 11. Still some interruptions, but mostly ones that were necessary due to remote school and the pandemic at that time. Ages 9 and 10 I would often get decent blocks, but some days she would just be in a mood and attention hungry.

Now that she is a teenager, she could not care less what I am doing.

DH and I have both wfh her whole life so we all have lots of practice. She understood conference call from about age 5, but would expect your full attention the instant you were done.

Managed all day with my 4 yo as she is off sick at the moment. To be fair she did sleep most the morning, and is pretty chilled and independent so will play pretty well or sit and do her writing and colouring with me. I couldn’t do it as a permanent thing though! I need quiet to concentrate.

7 year old is easy for a day or two but more than that she'd become bored.

I have WFH in emergencies with my 3 year old. It's ok but very difficult if I need to take calls (phones just spring her into action for needing me for some reason)

Mine are 10 and 14 so no problem.

Young children - not a chance.

I do an hour after school with a 5 year old as long as snacks are out and Netflix is working I can work. No longer than that though.

During lockdown my 8 year old was totally fine and that was with her screen time shut off during school hours. I could work as normal. She's now 10 and is often home in the holidays while I work as she refuses holiday clubs and is no trouble at all.

10 year old fine though there'd be more screens than I'd like. 7 year old, even 2 hours after school was a struggle, but she does have SEN. My work states I'm not meant to be caring for primary age children while wfh, but they will turn a blind eye in emergencies so I've only done it when the kids or my childminder have been sick.

I can do an hour or so after school with my 7 year old as she’s happy to watch tv/ play on the iPad with a supply of snacks.

However, I have done a couple of days wfh while she has been ill, with much tv and iPad use, and breaks to check on her/ provide snacks, but it’s not ideal - I find that I can’t focus properly and everything seems to take twice as much effort.

4&6 in lockdown. No choice was there

Youngest is 10. She makes her own breakfast/lunch and is perfectly content amusing herself for an entire day - with not much screen use.

I break up school holidays with random days off so she's not left to her own devices too much and I don't rely on the teenager to provide childcare - it's not her responsibility.

After school is easy, bring her home (on my lunch break) and she chills until I finish at 6pm.

With my DS from when he was 9 but only if he was playing X box and speaking to friends. He's a bit on the needy side ("I'm bored, I need a drink, can I have a snack?, can you play with me?, can't you watch TV with me?..." etc etc). I'm also not great at multi tasking and need to get in the zone to get much done so having DS around probably affected me more than it might others.

Also when DD was a baby I could get a reasonable amount done but only because she was an amazing napper!

Older is 9 and that’s fine.

Younger is 4. Christ no.

Mine are 10 and 14 so it's doable now at least after school. I don't do it much in school holidays though without putting the 10 yo in a club as she would just be on a screen all day.

Love this post! So well put!

11 year old is completely independent at home. She will not disturb and can go a whole day without showing her face. 8 year old can usually do it for after school if we tell her we are busy.

I can manage with my 4 year old on the odd occasion if school is shut, school hols, he's ill, etc. He's brilliant actually and often I get more done at home with him around than I do at the office surrounded by my colleagues. My only issue is I have to keep calls to a minimum, but thankfully that's not too much of a problem to organise as it's not all the time and my boss is very understanding.

I set up various toys around the house, such as a car track, trains, etc, have snacks ready, line up a good film, and he's very happy. He loves chilling at home which helps. DH and I just don't have enough annual leave to cover all the days!!

For school holidays, with a 11 and 8 year old, the key is to only have max a day a week without any holiday club planned. The 8 year old gets really bored more than a day. The 11 year old is fine if we let her play on her switch and her tablet.

It was tedious in lockdown but now at 8 and 12 it is fine. They do their own stuff and set each other tasks to do. My youngest is happy with regular snacks available.

With my 6 year old it's mostly fine. I stick a film on and can guarantee I won't see him until it ends. Otherwise he'll mostly want to be in the room with me which is sometimes ok. He really doesn't understand the concept that there are some times when I absolutely can't talk to him (because I'm running a meeting or presenting something, for example) and will come and pester me to go on mute or just talk anyway.
I only do it as a last resort!