It’s mid-July and you may have noticed that summer vacation has hit a new stage: the novelty has worn off, but there are still five weeks left!!! For kids, the boredom is setting in. This doesn’t mean that they want to go back to school, but they are looking for something new to occupy them. For entrepreneurial parents working out of the house, this can mean trouble because the kids generally come to them for that new occupation.
Unless you enrolled your kids in “sleep away” camp for the month, or they are at an age where you trust them on public transit – and in public – without you, now is the time to find something (anything!) to keep them out of your home office, entertained, and maybe even keep their brains stimulated.
Recently, the Contra Costa Times published an article titled Prevent ‘summer slide’: 12 ways to keep kids mentally stimulated. The article focuses on entertaining and inexpensive ways to keep those young minds occupied. Many of the activities, however, do require transportation. If you have a network of other work from home parents, rotating supervision of trips to local parks and museums is a great way to balance work and play – after all, most adults enjoy at least one of the following: The Exploratorium, Lawrence Hall of Science, the Chabot Space and Science Center, or the Cartoon Art Museum.
A large portion of Contra Costa County’s libraries has some sort of summer reading program for kids. If your kids are not “big readers” or if they’re still in the learning to read stage, you might just be able to get them to read to a dog. Dogs do not judge what or how you read, and they’re always good for a hug. For more information on Dog Reading Programs, check out the Contra Costa County Library website.
Other calendars busy business owner parents might find helpful for ideas on how to keep the kids amused include those for The Volunteer Center of the East Bay, the East Bay Regional Park District, as well as Lamorinda Patch. The age ranges, costs, activity, and duration of the events on each of these sites vary, the likelihood of finding something for the kids (or yourself) is high.
Rest assured there are still plenty of things to occupy your children this summer vacation while you are actively building the business of your dreams from home. And, on the days where the kids just want to stay home, there are plenty of ways for you to get out of the house and be productive anyway.
What is your secret to staying productive and keeping your small business running while the kids are home? Please leave a comment and share your tips with us!
