The following is an email I just sent to a Realtor MOM who contacted me for encouragement, since she has a 5 week old baby and also a 5 year old. Got to thinking it might be helpful to others as well.
Congrats on your new baby!
Some things that made it so I could work with Joeleah along til she was 18 months old and things that work now too.
1. I nursed, so no bottles to carry, santize, measure, go fill in the middle of an appt and so on. Also the prolactin helps keep me calm.
2. I wore Joeleah in a sling most of the time so my hands were free and houses were easy to show.
3. The sling was great for nursing too since it covered me and her up while she ate, most people just thought she was sleeping.
4. I look for business all of the places that I have to take the kids to care for them. ( school, park, store and so on)
5. I never apologize for having the baby with me. I just act like that is what all moms do since I think they should.
6. Develop a thick skin and a sense of humor you will need both.
7. Find some clothes you can nurse in that you feel great in and look great in, but that do not wrinkle and that can go through the wash. Even if it is just 2-3 pants or skirts and 3-4 tops that is ok most folks do not see you often enough to say didn't you wear that yesterday?
8. Make a child friendly work area
9.Do stop for lunch and play with your kids.
10. If you older child is in school see if you can car pool if there is no bus.
11. Once in a while when everything is totally crazy, take a spur of the moment nap or day off.
12. Get help. Find another mom who wants to be with her kids too, but needs some money and have her bring hers and help you with the house, meals and the kids.
13 Pray incessantly
14. Do take ( or even steal) time for yourself and be sure to do a little exercize even if it is just 10 minutes a day.
15. Get ready and look nice as early in the day as you can the rest of the day will go better.
16. Sleep with your baby at night so baby can nurse while you both sleep. (talk about multi tasking) then you will find baby does not need to eat as much during the day and is calmer, and so are you.
Hope this is helpful to you as these things have been for me. Feel free to pass them on and add your own ideas!! ( please!)
Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams Realty Tacoma
www.teammomentumrealestate.com 253-353-2662
<img src="http://craigslistadtracker.com/pv.ashx?u=001a805c-7a98-4447-8184-bd0d47fdea9d" style="display:inline">
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Hello Anna, Great advice, my daughter Sydney is 3 years old. I am a loan officer and have been able to bring my daughter to work with me since she was 8 weeks old. I first worked with my sister. Aunt Amy was great at taking my screaming baby when on the phone with a client! I nursed while having a headset, and another phone in hand. My daughter almost always had 2 play phones to her own ears when she started walking! Now I work with my brother. Uncle Tony will play with or entertain her when needed, and since he lives above the office, she gets to take naps in his bed while we work.
My advice:
1. Tell people you take your kid to work, most will applaud you. Those that don't, you probably don't want to work with anyway!
2. Work with family whenever possible.
3. Let go of the guilt, even though you are with your child most of the time, somehow you still feel guilty when you are not directly interacting 24/7.
Things I have learned:
1. Because my daughter has been around adults all of her life, she deals with all types of people with ease and joy.
2. Make sure you have things for the kids to do, my daughter is already using my laptop to do her "work". There are great kid friendly websites out there. The new one she loves is:http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/fun/ lots to do and learn.
3. Take breaks in between to enjoy your kids. It alleviates the guilt and makes your day go much better!
4. Playgroups, play grounds, pre-school, neighborhood parks and activities are great places to make new friends and new clients!
5. It is hard some days to take my daughter to work, but I sure wouldn't want it any other way!
Thanks for a great post.
Bridget McGee