With the lockdown getting extended, most parents are juggling WFH (work-from-home) and caring for their children at the same time. The positive side of this arrangement is that you get to spend a lot of time with your family, something that we have taken for granted when it was still normal to go to the office (plus getting stuck in traffic, etc).

The reality though is that this is not easy. Apparently, a noise canceling headphone or being in the room is not enough to make your kids stay out of your way during your “office hours”.

One minute you are in Zoom meeting, the next thing you know your background is your child screaming on top of his lungs because he can’t find his favorite toy. Mommies and daddies, we understand this – we have a 3- year-old son and trust us, it gets hard sometimes to focus and get things done.

So, we came up with some ideas and activities to keep our kids busy while we WFH.

Using screentime to your advantage
Technology is our friend. There are a lot of educational and entertaining shows that we can let our kids watch.

Include your kids in your schedule
Sometimes, they just want attention so while you stretch or make yourself a cup of coffee, check up on them and explain that you need to work for a bit and you can play with them after.

Puzzles, coloring books, and art
Make sure you use the ones that are appropriate to your kid’s age. Avoid the ones that include scissors when making art. There are a lot of Origami (paper art) that they can do without cutting. Use an area in your house that they can use coloring material that can easily be cleaned (we don’t want art on our walls which can take ages to remove).

Books
For kids that can read, let them choose which book they want to read and ask them about it at the end of the day. Reward them for finishing a chapter!

Toys
Toddlers love their toys – let them pick which ones they want to play for the day and give them the role to clean up after as well.

Naptime
Afternoon naps or siestas are crucial for children, stick to a schedule and while the house is quiet you can maximize your productivity.

Snacks
Kids love their snack time, you can use this as a reward system like "mommy and daddy need to focus on work, after this you can have your favorite snack!".

Ask for help
If all else fails, it is okay to accept the fact that we can’t control our whole house. Asking for help from a sibling or your partner is okay and normal.

Here in MassageMNL, we want to help build happier and stress-free homes – this is why we have parenting tips. Click here to read more posts like this.