Many of the work at home moms start home-based enterprises because they want to be home with their little ones. And I wasn't the other way: I quit a wonderful corporate career to be with my two daughters.

But then, you put a lot of effort into your company, and it works! Yeah, you're receiving orders and making more money, but the other side of it is that you don't have as much time for your little ones. How can you balance your time, then? Are you really putting your children first? Or you're going to go for "just a minute of sugar! "The line and the hope that they can't say the time?

It happened to me: one day, during my first Christmas business season, I was busy buying 150 gift baskets. It was hard work, and tension was heavy. The deadline was coming, and I didn't have time to pause and straighten the room.

There were boxes of goods everywhere, there were empty boxes, and there was gourmet food everywhere: a real disaster area! And just then, my 4-year-old daughter (now 11) came to me with her wide brown eyes in tears: "Mommy, I'm bored and sad, can we play a little? "What could I have done? I was alone at home with her, and if I started playing, there was no chance I could complete my order in time.

So, I was thinking fast, on my feet, about how I could play with her and function at the same time. And I came up with the idea of making her office out of used/damaged boxes right next to mine. She's been ecstatic! And she did all her jobs! I instructed her where to go to get the boxes, and I made room for her at my desk. She designed a desk, improvised a chair, and even had the stuff to sell in her shop.

With that in mind, much of the time, I was happy to continue my job uninterrupted. She liked watching and copying me: when I took the call to speak to the client, she picked up her imaginary phone. She made one of her own when I needed to make a basket. As I measured the price of my baskets, she took up a pencil and calculated her own rates.

Her office changed over time: the old, battered boxes were replaced by the real wooden drawers. Stuff I haven't been able to market has been her store's inventory. She has got an add-on computer and a mattress. Today, her office is her favorite place to play. And it's no longer just an office: it's a whole complex with various stores. She has a bakery, a bath and a body shop, a book store, and a toy store.

The shop supported her in a variety of ways:

She's heard about managing and ordering inventory

  • She's heard about the phone tag
  • She used to add and subtract
  • She has learned management skills
  • She's learned to be imaginative (little bits and pieces of ribbon, irregular baskets, empty containers have become great assets to her business)

Could you use your business to teach simple business to your kids when you're having fun? I'm sure you will do that. Just take some time to think about how your condition can be used to plant some business seeds in your child.