As a stay-at-home mom who is also a freelance writer (see my Web site), I am always looking for creative ways to get my work done without having to put my DB in daycare. Sometimes, I hire a nanny to come to my home for a few hours here and there to meet a deadline. Sometimes, I work while DB naps in the afternoon and after she goes to bed at night. Sometimes, I work when my husband gets home, since he’s home most afternoons. Sometimes, I combine all of these approaches.
But this week, I found yet another, albeit limited, option — my wonderful YMCA!! At my Y, childcare is included in the cost of membership. I work out most days, either with DB in a jogging stroller, or on the treadmill while she’s at the Y nursery. But I just found out my YMCA is WIRELESS! Whoo hoo! And I can put DB in the nursery for up to two hours as long as I’m on the property. So, yesterday and today, I did a 4-mile run on the treadmill, then fired up my laptop and got some work done. In all, DB was in the nursery for about 90 minutes. It was a perfect system. She likes the nursery. I can see her. She gets some socializing time, which is good since she doesn’t have any siblings who are close in age. And I got a jump on my afternoon work by checking and answering emails.
The email thing worked great. And I think doing some writing would work. But today, I made the mistake of doing a phone call with one of my clients while there. The place was quiet when I initiated the call. But before I was done, some kind of kiddie gym class began and all the moms with youngins were surrounding me and making me appear very unprofessional to my client. My bad. That’s what the Y is for, and I cannot expect it to be a quiet-client-calling-atmosphere. So, I’ll probably have to limit my work to the kind done electronically. That’s okay. I’m excited to have found another option.
Anybody else out there found other child care solutions for work-at-home situations?
