Stay-at-Home Parents' Guide to Multitasking: Spend Time with Kids and Work

Stay-at-home parents sometimes find it difficult to pursue their daily activities when they have young children home with them. Here are some ways to get things done while still spending time with your children.

1. Try involving them in whatever activities you're doing. If you're filing bills and balancing the checkbook, give them a pile of junk mail to "file". To prevent being asked 100 times what to do with each item they are filing, have them sort them by size or color. That should keep them busy while still spending time with you and helping them learn to match colors, shapes, and sizes at the same time. If your making lunch, give them a small task to do too. If your sorting the recycling, have them help. See who can sort the most items. Just keep it fun and simple for them. If you have to do something that will take longer than 15 minutes and can not directly involve them, try giving them something else to do. We all know how long a young child can stay focused on a task! You may have an easier time getting them to practice their letters and numbers on paper at the table then try to stay focused enough to help you empty out the refrigerator for a scrub down.

2. Kids love to get dirty. If you have a garden you need to tend, slather some sunscreen on them and have them help you water the garden, pull weeds, dig a hole for planting new things, or with gathering vegetables in a basket. Be sure to tell them how good of a job they're doing. If you gathered vegetables that day, be sure to make some for dinner, they may take pride in eating something they helped with. This can be an excellent way to introduce children to eating vegetables and helping around the house.