How How How do you single moms do it?

I'll share a bit of my story and maybe it will give you some ideas that you can use working from home too.

My kids are 3 and 1 and I've run my own business from home since before they were born.

My wife has the solid job in corporate America with health insurance, etc. and I was the self-employed solo massage therapist (then) so when it came time to deciding who had to be the stay-at-home parent... well, let's just say I learned how to change a diaper faster than a NASCAR pit crew can change a tire.

I made it a point initially to only work when my daughter (now 3) was sleeping/napping. That meant a lot of late nights working to meet copywriting deadlines. Once my business had some consistent cashflow, I hired a college student to watch my daughter during the day so I could get work done. At first it was only 5-6 hours a week but a few years later, it's now 20-25 hours/week of babysitting care so I can get work done during the day (mostly) and less 20-21 hour work/parenting days.

Ran a WSO when my daughter was only a few months old... took the monies from the WSO and paid for part of the basement to be converted into an enclosed play area that my kids still use to this day. In return for paying for that home renovation, my wife agreed to give up her unused craft room so I'd have my own office to work from. More importantly, it has a door which I use to keep the kids out of my office when necessary or when we're expecting company (my office usually looks like a bomb went off).

I bought a laptop when my daughter was 7 months old... took her about 2 weeks to grab the internet cord and pull it off the table while crawling around. That was 6 weeks in the shop and a fast reminder on why I need to set up a wireless network in the house pronto.

My daughter quickly learned how to play with toys with dad sitting in the same room with her. Both of my kids when they were infants loved hanging out in an exer-saucer for 15-20 minutes at a time... just enough time to check email fast and knock out a quick reply if needed.

They've gotten used to hearing dad play marketing audios in the background while playing blocks with them. You'd be surprised how much of it you retain even if you are only treating it as "background music". And some of the bad marketing stuff... well, let's just say you won't be disappointed that you didn't give them your full attention.

Everyday I have my kids from 7-9 a.m. until the babysitter shows up... I do some light email but spend 90% of the time making them breakfast and playing with them. When they get up from their afternoon naps, I have them for a few more hours until my wife gets home from work. Then I volunteer to go cook dinner while she watches/plays/wrestles with the kids.

They're in bed by 7-8 p.m. and my wife usually by 9ish (she's up at 4 a.m. to be at work by 6 a.m.) and the rest of the night is usually mine to schedule however I want.

Long days? Sure. Sometimes 19-20 hours/day still. I make it a point to overestimate the time I need to do things simply to plan for the unexpected like the babysitter calling out sick.

Despite the long days, I'm really enjoying spending the time with my kids and being self-employed too. It's time and memories that I'll treasure forever.

Take care,

Mike

Watching my almost-three-year old daughter as I'm reading this thread. I can relate.

It's all about learning to concentrate in focused bursts whenever you get the chance -- whenever she gets momentarily distracted for a few minutes by the TV, a book, a toy, or doing some drawing or something. Then you get a few minutes uninterrupted.

Hard to balance sometimes. And, as noted above, it goes by quickly so play with them as often as possible. Paraphrasing the old cliche, I don't think I'll be on my deathbed wishing I had spent more time on the computer.