Is everything balanced?

[MUM2BLESS]

Hi everyone

I am a childminder as also a mum of four.(aged 5 to 14)

Do you have the balance right with working from home and spending quality time with your family?

If you are balanced with this, what advice would you give those who are still working on it?

If you have not got it right what would you like to change?

I find that sometimes when I am not minding I am doing paper work. (This needs to be done) I do not really want to be doing this too late at night. On Friday I did not have any minded kids. I had to take time out to take three of my kids to the park. My older one was at school. Inbetween I was catching up on things......

Sorry a bit more on this.

Its important that we also take time out for ourselves in all of the things we are doing.

I have a wonderful husband who is a great chef. I STILL HAVE TO COOK, but i do enjoy the lovely meals he does. He is very helpful and can do most of the things that we ladies do.

Would love to hear from you all....

Thanks

IMO quality time is a misnomer and can add to parental angst about working full stop

Some weeks or months the balance changes eg if you have children in differing sections at school eg upper or lower primary then you will have 2 x sports day/end of year concert to try to slot in around the minded children, similarly at Xmas; but other months will have less demands

Money is also a factor to be balanced. I had one v diff child for only 4 hrs per week a few years ago; the income from him was not commensurate with the problems he wrought in the dynamic of the childen in my care and my own children so in giving notice I lost a bit of ££ but gained a load of non-quantifiables. Hope you get what I am driving at.

Paperwork - I heartily reccomend doing what I call TEN-TEN-LOAF - ten minutes on this, ten minutes on that, ten minutes loafing with a cup of tea (or on here) to nibble away at the paperwork after the children are in bed. I like to keep weekends for my own faaaamily but sometimes one MUST get the printer out on a Sunday morning.

I'll come back to this in a bit

Thanks for that. A little bit at a time...

Only popped on for a sec and don't have time to answer this yet but no, I don't have the balance right AT ALL. I've moaned on here a lot about it and I know I'm not the only one. For me a lot of my problem is I don't have a place (i.e. little office or something) where I can hide away and do bits so I never get any peace (plus I don't have the best of dh's for being helpful!)

Thanks everyone