Comments on: Surviving Spring Break Week with Kids

By: Spring Break Vacation | Go Nuts At A Spring Break Ice Cream Social | Cape Cod Hotels - Bayside Resort

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:18:54 +0000

[...] Surviving Spring Break Week with Kids – What To Read On The GigaOM Network says: March 9th, 2009 11:21am. [...] Here come green social networks. (Earth2Tech) An app store for jailbroken iPhones. (theAppleBlog) How to survive Spring Break with Kids. (WebWorkerDaily) [...] … [...]

By: Dealing With Distractions

Dealing With Distractions — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:01:32 +0000

[...] a web worker has a completely different set of distractions. Kids are an additional distraction for many of my friends, and while I’ve avoided that particular one, I have plenty of my own. [...]

By: Meryl Evans

Meryl Evans — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:16:55 +0000

How’s everyone doing spring break (I know not all have it this week… some next week and later)? It worked out great for my family to send my youngest to Grandma’s for half of the week and swap with his older brother for the rest of the week. No brother fights. Teen daughter in her little world.

By: Links: St. Patrick’s Day Edition 2009 | Meryl.net

Links: St. Patrick’s Day Edition 2009 | Meryl.net — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:43:48 +0000

[...] Surviving Spring Break Week with Kids: My debut on WebWorkerDaily. Excited to officially join the community. Or would you rather read about dealing with taxes? [...]

By: Meryl Evans

Meryl Evans — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:27:33 +0000

@Julie, glad to meet another Planoite here at WWD. What a great idea for St. Patrick’s Day. Let’s stay connected.

@GoEverywhere, you’re right — we have all kinds of apps at our disposal so we can work anywhere. Unfortunately, I’ve found that when I go to grandma’s — I can’t get work done. Her desk is not comfortable and I can’t find a “place” in her house (it’s lovely) that gets me in the mood for work. I think the problem is that when I go there, it’s for holidays and gatherings, which is the wrong mindset.

@Dan, I run into that problem on some afternoons. I have a high schooler that comes after school on some days and he’s made a difference. But that doesn’t keep the kindergartener from coming in my office every five minutes. I love to hear what he has to say — just wish he’d say it all instead of every five minutes.

@Anelly, good for you in taking the time to take a break for yourself. Tennis and gaming are my breaks! Lucky for me, I do game reviews — so I can’t feel too guilty.

Thanks for the warm welcome, all!

By: Anelly

Anelly — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:51:36 +0000

Not only when you have kids you have to take a break. I feel the need sometimes to take a break, go somewhere, relax and feel good.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:30:12 +0000

I can relate to what Meryl describes; I work from home most of the time, and it does require some adapting on my part to get work done when the kids are out of school–much, I would add, like it requires adapting to the routines of my colleagues the 12 or so hours a week I’m at the “real” office.

For me, it’s more about my perception and attitude than it is any specific actions or plans. When I think of my children as interruptions to be dealt with, they are a bother, and I’m quickly annoyed–and we all suffer. However, when I remind myself that they are a blessing and that’s it’s privilege to interact with them for the short time I have them at home, then things go very differently. In the big scheme of things, my children are a much bigger priority than my job.

Am I successful with this all the time? No. But my mindset definitely makes a difference. And it also helps that my wife and I have put in the time and energy to train our children to be respectful, to find things to do on their own, and to be generally well behaved. We don’t have “I’m bored, find me something to do” at our house.

By: GoEverywhere Team

GoEverywhere Team — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:48:21 +0000

Welcome Meryl! Spring break (and as you said, summer break) can be difficult for parents that work at home. I agree with all of your tips, especially playing with friends and visiting relatives. Using the GoEverywhere webtop (imagine your desktop on the web) you can access your files and many great programs with a single sign in no matter what computer you happen to be using – so you can work while visiting Grandma or even while taking your kids to the local library. This way you can get out of the house with your children, and still get a little bit of work done.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:40:42 +0000

Greetings from a fellow Planoite!

My kid is now in college, but how we managed Spring Break varied by age and my deadlines. I always tried to make a couple of days during the week work-free so we could go do something together.

Next week is his break, and my husband is going to take a couple of days off. We’re definitely going to the Fillmore for lunch on St. Patrick’s Day, but I’m going to try very hard to step away from the computer for a couple of days. I’ve been working weekends and deserve a break!

By: What To Read On The GigaOM Network

What To Read On The GigaOM Network — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:21:39 +0000

[...] Here come green social networks. (Earth2Tech) An app store for jailbroken iPhones. (theAppleBlog) How to survive Spring Break with Kids. (WebWorkerDaily) [...]