Working From Home With Kids: Summer Survival Strategies That Actually Work
The Reality Check
You're elbow deep in the summer holidays. You've not gone too grey, yet, and you've actually not lost your shit with kids since yesterday evening. Possibly a holiday record. But today is the day you've been dreading. It's time for the most critical work call of the month. The cameras are on. Your boss is there, as too are your biggest client, who are locked into contract extension negotiations.
You're settling in. It's your turn to speak, when suddenly, out of nowhere, without warning, they strike!
"MUM! She's hogging the swing and won't let me have a turn!"
"I WAS ON IT FIRST!"
"But you've been on it for AGES!"
Then comes the inevitable screams and rage of a sibling argument.
Welcome to working from home with kids. The place where your professional life collides head-first with the beautiful chaos of family life.
Spoiler alert: nobody wins in this scenario.
If you're reading this while hiding in the bathroom with your laptop, clutching a cold mug of yesterday's coffee and wondering if you're more likely to be fired from your job or from being a parent, I've got news for you. You're not failing. You're doing something complicated. And you're doing it well.
The Challenge: Two Full-Time Jobs, One Exhausted Parent
Before we can get elbow-deep in this, we first need to step back and truly understand what's going on here.
You are working two full-time jobs right now. Just let that sink in for a second. You’re trying to hold down your job and be a parent. That’s not easy, and you need to give yourself more credit for what you do.
Working from home with kids isn't about finding the perfect balance. It's about surviving each day without completely losing your shit, and if you do, it's important not to do it with or in front of your colleagues. Especially your boss or best customer.
Trust me. I let a few accidental 'cunts’ slip in some work meetings, and people were somewhat aghast.
But it's hard. Especially when you've got deadlines breathing down your neck. A three-year-old who thinks your laptop keyboard makes excellent drumming sounds. A ten-year-old who desperately needs your help installing a new game on their phone, the moment you open an important email. And you've got a baby who has impeccable timing for explosive nappies right before video calls.
You'd be forgiven for wondering when the Instagram-perfect working parent thing happens.
Here's another trade secret for you. It doesn't. It doesn't happen because it doesn't truly exist. Those images of the tidy home office, meticulously organized with delightful children playing quietly while mummy or daddy finishes her presentation. They are utter bollocks. Pure fiction of the highest calibre. Even if those images weren't staged and manufactured, they capture a still moment, not a 90-minute call in the middle of the day.
What is real is you. Trying to type one-handed while bouncing a toddler. Muting yourself on calls to hiss "Not now!" at fighting siblings, only to forget you're on camera and everybody can see your verbal tirade, and get the gist of what you're saying without a degree in lip reading.
You're exhausted. The holidays are costing you your sanity, your figure, because you're shoveling lunch into your face at 4pm because you forgot food was a thing you needed too, and now, you're worried it's also going to cost you your job.
STOP!
Take a deep breath.
It's not. You're fine. You're doing great.
You're a fucking rockstar, excelling in multiple areas all at once. Don't sell yourself short.
The following section will offer you some practical coping strategies to help you survive the summer with your sanity, family, and career intact.
Practical Strategies: Setting Feasible Boundaries
Boundaries don't mean the same thing to kids as they do to adults.
They're more like guidelines—loose suggestions, really.
However, establishing the ground rules for some basic form of structure is better than surrendering to the totality of chaos.
The following five points can help create a safety-saving framework that kids can understand and follow, without having to interrupt you eight times during the first five minutes of a meeting to have things re-clarified.
Create a Visual Work Signal: Get a bright sign for your door or desk. When it's up, you're in work mode. Even the littlest ones can learn this. Red means stop! Green means go! Will they respect it every time? Fuck no. But it helps, and gives you a bit more evidence for losing your shit once work is over.
Establish the 'Emergency Only' Rule: Blood, fire, or someone's actually dying. Those are the only reasons to interrupt a work call. Everything else can wait ten minutes. Yes, even disputes about whose turn it is on the swing. The kids will just have to fight it out the old-fashioned way.
Rotate Locations: Try to change your work location throughout the day. Once kids have locked onto a target, they are like dogs with a bone. By moving around, you're making them work for the bollocking you're going to give them for ignoring rules 1 and 2. Good spots include the kitchen table, bedroom, the toilet, and even the garden shed if you're desperate. Keep them guessing.
The Snack Station: Set up a low cupboard or drawer with acceptable snacks that they can reach. Crackers, fruit, whatever won't cause a sugar crash and tears. Self-service is meant to stop the constant "I'm hungry" interruptions. Will it work? See point 1 above.
Forget screen time guilt: If screen time be the food of peaceful work. Let them play on. Give them excess of it. Just admit it. Sometimes CBeebies is your best babysitter. On certain days, YouTube Kids is your ideal assistant. Your children will not be scarred for life by extra screen time during work hours. They'll be fine, and so will you.
Age-Appropriate Expectations: What's Actually Realistic
The reality of parenting is that unless you have twins, triplets, or some other multiple, the chances are you will have kids in different age brackets. It's easy to expect all of your kids to toe the line and behave accordingly. However, that's a failing we often make as parents. It's natural, I feel. Especially if, like us, you have a toddler the size of a 6-year-old, to expect them to behave to a certain level.
While teaching your kids discipline and to follow rules is great. None of that gentle tip-toe parenting around here. However, at the same time, you need to remember that kids will be kids, and each age bracket comes with a certain degree of expectation. We can lie and tell ourselves that our little fat-fingered cherubs are angels, but we all know that's a load of shite.
Below, we outline some of the expected baseline summer survival behaviors, so you can start each workday with a clear understanding of what you're getting yourself into.
Toddlers (1-3 years): Let's be real. You should have no expectations about this group of loveable gremlins. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, with the best being a quick five minutes of peace that doesn't involve a bodily function. Toddlers have no concept of work calls or deadlines. They want attention, and they want it now. While you can try as you like, and sometimes might get lucky, and they are merrily entertained. It's just easier to accept this reality and plan accordingly.
Primary School (4-11 years): Once they enter primary school, you can start to hope that they will develop at least the most basic work habits, but the frequency of testing will be high during the summer holidays. Sure, they're capable of independent play, and at some point will most likely have siblings in the same bracket, but they will cry boredom the moment you pick up your phone. It is also a scientific fact that the more critical the call, the greater the degree of boredom. They can get their own snacks, but they will ask for help opening things they've opened a thousand times before.
Teenagers (12+ years): Here is where it gets tricky. Theoretically, this is the most independent of all child age brackets. However, they are easily the most emotionally demanding. Any successful summer survival guide needs to factor in these giant cry babies. They will claim to respect your work time. Still, the universe will also decide that those exact moments are the perfect time to send them a series of existential crises about friendship drama, exam stress, or, for those important workdays, questions about the meaning of life and the point of existence. The other problem with this age group is you can't just lob them a packet of Hula-Hoops, stick on an episode of Bluey, and close the door because they don't yet know how to use the handle.
Children with Additional Needs: If you have a child with additional needs, you may already be aware of this, but it's best to set aside all expectations. Whether it's autism, ADHD, anxiety, or any other disorder - because they all come with their own challenges - you need to be on your toes and flexible for any eventuality. While it is essential to incorporate rules and an understanding of work time, the fact is that routine becomes even more critical during the summer holidays. Adaptability is essential. And patience becomes your superpower.
Emergency Tactics: Because the Shit Will Hit the Fan
No work from home summer survival guide can be complete without a break in case of emergency, shit has hit the fan toolkit.
Why?
Because if it can happen, it will happen. And it will happen while you're at work, every single time!
But don't panic. We understand that you're doing your best and recognize the stress of balancing family and career during the holidays. So we've put together the essential crisis toolkit. These options should buy you enough time to finish what you need to do before the kids set the curtains on fire and decide to try to BBQ the hamster because they haven't eaten for eleven minutes.
The Panic Basket: Grab a basket or container. Fill it with new activities, special snacks, and emergency entertainment. The kind of things you wouldn't usually let them have. It is essential to make it clear that this is a special event. Save it for when you absolutely cannot be disturbed, or when your last nerve is burning down to the base and it's still only mid-morning. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and there is no shame in admitting it.
The Bathroom Office: We've all been there. I've had several important calls from the ultimate throne. Just make sure it's not a camera-on kind of meeting. Even though Teams offers you those greenscreen backgrounds, we all know they don't work quite as well as they should. And whatever you do, don't lean back and accidentally hit the flush button … which never happened to me. Honest, it didn't.
The Bribery System: Bribery is wrong. You shouldn't bribe your kids. Said every childless parent ever. We all know that once the bundles of joy hit the floor and start moving and talking on their own, it's a different world. It's a jungle, and if you need to bribe them to sit down and watch a bit of TV so you can finish an email, you bloody well go ahead and do it.
Fuck it, call it positive reinforcement if it makes you feel better. "If you just let me finish this email, we'll have ice cream for lunch." Survival trumps perfect parenting.
The Tag-Team Approach: If you have a partner, especially one who also works from home, consider teaming up to create a system. Maybe agree on a timetable where one person handles the chaos while the other works. Switch it up every few hours so you always get a break … in the office. It's not perfect, and depending on the jobs, it's not always possible, but even if just in concept, it's better than drowning alone.
The Nuclear Option: Screen time, snacks, and letting them build a fort out of all your sofa cushions. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the cleanliness of your home to meet that rapidly looming deadline. Let them have at it. Run amok, and let their creativity flow with your blankets, pillows, cushions, mops, brooms, bed linen, and grandpa's walking stick. Because at the end of the day, it's not all about them. Sometimes, just sometimes, you and your sanity need to come first. Besides, moments like those, when you are at your lowest point of despair, are when the children play together and make memories they will remember long after the picture-perfect breakfasts and matching weather-themed outfits.
Childcare Solutions: Options That Won't Break the Bank
Some families, not us, have access to this crazy thing called childcare. Now, I want you to stay with me on this one. Because we have no real childcare options for our brood, but I know some folks do, so it would be rude not to at least mention it.
Childminder Shares: It's not cheap getting someone else to watch your kids. It's worth its weight in gold, but still, it's expensive. Consider splitting costs with other parents. The truth is that it gets your kids used to socializing and making new friends while you get work time, and in theory, all adults involved save money.
Grandparent Recruitment: If you're fortunate enough to have willing grandparents nearby, don't hesitate to ask for help. Remind them that age is just a number and how much they love having the kids around. You get peace, the kids get a fuck ton of sugar. Everyone wins … until bedtime, but that's a future parent problem.
Nursery Part-Time: For younger kids, there are nursery options. Most nurseries operate through the holidays, so why not see if you could get even two mornings a week or so? It makes a massive difference, and trust us, you're kids will love it. They will be surrounded by people the same age, a plethora of toys and games, and adults whose patience is endless. Those precious hours of uninterrupted work time are more than worth the cost.
Teenager Babysitters: While possibly a dying art form, you'd be hard pushed to find a teenager who didn't want to earn a few quid. They're not going to be saving up for a few liters of White Lightning like back in our day, but they will still be motivated by money. If you have friends with teenage kids, why not recruit them just for a few hours a week so you can get some work done?
It's a classic arrangement. You need someone to watch the kids for a few hours. They need money to waste on pointless shit. It's a perfect match.
Parent Swap Systems: This is another old-school approach. Why not talk to some other work-from-home parents and see if you could all take turns watching each other's kids? While this does mean you're house will be overrun on a Monday and Wednesday morning, they will take your crotch goblins on a Tuesday and Thursday. Call it a playdate with purpose.
Just ensure that your job offers this level of freedom. You'll find that you get more done in your two uninterrupted sessions than you would across all days of the week with kids in tow.
The Truth About Working from Home During the Summer
The holidays are hard. They are hard for everybody, but more so for parents who have to work from home. I am lucky. I set my own hours and made the change to working nights. It works for me, but not everybody. Just remember, you're not failing at work and you're not failing at parenting. You're doing both simultaneously during what are still early days in the global shift toward remote work. People understand, and if they don't, well, to be honest, fuck them. Anyone who has now or has had kids will remember what it's like.
You're a rock star, and don't you forget it.
The simple fact of the matter is that during the summer holiday, there will be some days when you'll nail the presentation while your toddler naps peacefully. Other days, you'll serve cereal for dinner because you spent all day putting out work fires while mediating sibling disputes.
Both days count. Both days matter. And on both days, you are doing your absolute best in what is essentially an impossible situation.
Your children aren't damaged by seeing you work. They're learning that adults have responsibilities. They're seeing a parent who provides for the family. They're witnessing work ethic in action. Lessons that will stick with them and be carried forward into their own adult life.
And yes, they're also seeing you stressed, tired, and occasionally shouting at your laptop. That's called being human. They need to see that, too. Because while we all tell our children to stay calm and not lose their tempers, there are times when you need to let off steam and shout at a machine. It's regulating emotions, not ignoring them, that is the key lesson we need to teach.
The Bottom Line
Let's be honest. Working from home while the kids are home for the summer is like trying to juggle angry terrapins while riding a unicycle in a hurricane. Some days you'll keep everything in the air. Other days, you'll crash spectacularly and have to pick up the pieces.
Don't be fooled by those parents who make it look effortless. They are lying. Behind the mask lies the truth they are terrified to show. Those who claim to love every minute are delusional, lying to themselves as much as they are to everybody else. Then you have those who judge your survival tactics because, while they don't have children yet, they know for a fact they would never give in to a toddler having a meltdown about the wrong color cup while they were in the middle of a work call. Those individuals can return when they have a valid contribution to make to the discussion.
You're doing something incredibly difficult. Something that many people would struggle to do, if they could do it at all.
So cut yourself some slack.
Lower your expectations. Embrace the beautiful chaos. And remember, there is no manual for all of this. No rulebook and no black and white. Parenting is clinging to a pendulum that moves through a sea of grey fog. Everybody's lost and doing their best to cling on.
You've got this. Even when it doesn't feel like it. Especially when it doesn't feel like it.
