[zdyn5]

Sorry to say but sweet docile 8 month old girl is EZ mode and very different from a 3 year old boy running around banging on your office door demanding your attention every 20 minutes.

Source: have 3 yo boy and 7 mo girl, even with stay at home mom to help. The girl’s presence is almost unnoticeable during work hours unless I want to see her, it’s fully under my control. The boy is a totally different story. Wouldn’t get anything done if I didn’t go to the office.

[freedomben]

Absolutely. Father of 5 kids, oldest are teenagers now. 6 to 12 months is the golden age, and is as good as it gets (cherish this!). between 3 and 5 years old, it doesn't matter if you're meeting with the president of the US, that kid is gonna bang on the door and make all hell kinds of noise outside unless there's another parent/person physically present to distract them. And if it does get quiet all the sudden, you better go out and check on them because they're doing something really bad. Hopefully they're just dumping a whole bottle of shampoo into the toilet, rather than scribbling all over the furniture and walls with a permanent marker that they somehow materialized out of ether. Bear it well though, eventually that little baby won't need you at all anymore and nostalgia will erase the pain of the early days from your memory, leaving only the good times.

I work from home and strongly support working from home, but interruptions from kids are a serious challenge with no easy solution if you're the only parent/person/adult physically in the house at the moment.

IMHO the best thing for both parents and employers to do is allow flexible hours. if you want to work from 6 am to 10am, then be off for 6 hours and resum then from 4pm to 8pm, that should be easy (barring important meetings, etc).

[bsagdiyev]

Will second this. I typically work later in to the day/night because our son is loud during the day and it can be hard to focus so I shift my hours.

[reachableceo]

So instead of setting boundaries and ensuring appropriate behavior and social skills for your child , you surrender to him and shift your work hours ?

Why?

That’s not healthy for either party.

[SamoyedFurFluff]

Do you have children? Children ages from 3-5 are still within dog category of intelligence. They are still learning volume, time, routine, self-control and attachment, and they are hardwired to explore their environment within the safety of adult supervision. They are not designed for the autonomous two-parent household left alone for most of the day every day.

[disgruntledphd2]

Please stop parent-judging. It's just a terrible, terrible idea in general. It's so very tempting (speaking as a parent) but it's never worth it.

Just Say No.

[CydeWeys]

This is a very easy thing to say. However, I suspect it often does not pass the 'when the rubber meets the road' test.

[jokethrowaway]

If you have your own office at home and a dedicated adult even kids are not too much of a bother. Sure some occasional screaming and crying.

Two boys and one girl squad.

[cdelsolar]

I have a one and a half year old baby boy who comes to visit me every few hours even if I’m in the middle of a meeting, with a big smile on his face and usually calling for me in our own goofy language. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. (Maybe I’ll be singing a different tune next year though; haha)