A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

working at home with small children - MTmom

Posted: Jan 30, 2011

For all of you MTs who have smaller kids (elem. schoolage and younger), how do you manage your hours? I have a preschooler and another one 2nd grade and I'm currently working second shift, but this isn't working out too well with all the "family stuff" that needs to be done like getting dinner, giving baths, helping with homework, just routine stuff. The problem is there's really not enough work for me to work 1st shift and I've been in this business long enough to know that most of the work comes in the afternoon and at night. Just trying to get some ideas how to manage schedules and family. TIA.

Where's dad? - 2nd shifter

[ In Reply To ..]
I work 4-12. Husband comes in at 4:30 and I hand life off to him, I go work.

Dad... - MTmom

[ In Reply To ..]
Dad usually gets home around 5-7p and he goes to school 1 night a week, but I really feel kinda guilty just handing the kids over to him completely when he works all day too. Plus, I have to get dinner ready for him and the family. Don't get me wrong, he definitely helps out when he gets home and will give baths and that kind of stuff, but I can't just hand over everything to him. I help them with homework and getting ready for bed and stuff. The 8-5 Monday-Friday shift would actually be perfect for me, but in this industry, I know that's not realistic.

differing philosophies - BTDT

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm guessing dad doesn't mind "handing them over to you" when he leaves in the morning? LOL!

I just viewed my job as a job that started at 4, so it was either up to me to get child care or "hand them off" to their father.

Hopefully you'll get some better suggestions! I raised 3 of them doing MT from the time they were infants.

Making it easier - The Analog Kid

[ In Reply To ..]
I used to spend one weekend day cooking big meals of spaghetti, casseroles, etc that were cheap and easy, and dividing them up into the disposable trays you can buy at the store. I would freeze them, and that way, you could microwave them whatever their hearts desire, cutting down on the evening cooking time. Showers were taken before school. Hope that helps!

I know what you're going through - buzymom

[ In Reply To ..]
I know EXACTLY what you're going through. I have 2 toddlers and have gone circles around trying to come up with the perfect schedule. I find that working a few hours in the early morning and a few hours in the evening when my kids are in bed works best. I can't work full time, but at least I can work. Another important thing is to find a company willing to work with you and your situation. That was one of my challenges as well. Being an independent contractor has worked well for me.

You need to hand off more to dad... - ZonedOut

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a preschooler currently and another one on the way. I work 3-12 a.m. Dad gets home around 5. I then hand off kid duty to him. You have to if you want to get your work done, unless you want to work 3rd shift. I utalize the crockpot and meals I freeze and pop in the oven later so they have something for dinner and a few nights a week they are "on their own" and he understands.

He starts bath and I take my lunch around bedtime so I can be there to tuck my daughter in and read her a story.

I know you don't want to overwhelm your husband when he just got done working all day, but you have a job to do also, don't forget that. You can't do everything and you need to give proper attention to your job also so you can pay those bills!

Good luck!

Couple suggestions/ideas - Ayn

[ In Reply To ..]
While my kids are no longer this young, I was in your shoes in the past. My first suggestion is for you to reassess your priorities, commitments, responsibilities. If you honestly want to do this job and do it well, you need to treat it as a "real" job. You would never consider taking your kids to work with you if you worked outside the home, and your employer would most definitely not tolerate that either. When you are on the clock, you need to be working, not constantly getting up and down -- which I think you realize or you wouldn't have asked your original question. But, you need to readjust your way of looking at your job and not allow yourself to feel guilty for working/providing for your family. You have made a wonderful decision to work from home and be there during the day for your kids, but you have also decided to have a job, which you need to commit to and meet those responsibilities to set a good example for your children also. Don't let yourself feel guilty for missing a few hours of their evening -- you have had all day to be with them, teach them, guide them, play with them, read to them, do homework, etc. Let Dad have his time. It may actually be a nice way for him to unwind from his work day, as well, by having some one-on-one time with his children!

My biggest suggestion would be to reassess your work hours and what you are willing/able to commit to and then commit to it. Is a split shift an option? I know that worked well for me when I still had preschoolers at home. I was able to get in 2-3 hours during the day while they were either in preschool or napping and then I did another 3-4 hours after dinner. It was not a full 8-hour day, but it was enough to pay the bills and be eligible for benefits. Homework was done right after school and finished before Dad got home. Honestly, at that age, my kids did not have much homework, so it was not a problem to finish this before dinner. My biggest conflict was school programs/activities that were in the evenings, but I was fortunate to work for a company where I was able to take of the occasional evening to attend these things.

Good luck to you & your family. I'm sure you will find a schedule that works for you!

working at home with small children - ej

[ In Reply To ..]
Just another suggestion - maybe you could plan ahead and crockpot dinner each day or as I used to do use the timer on you oven and bake dinner each evening. Then all your hubby would have to do is clean up afterwards. That helped me for years while I had to work out of the home. It taks a little getting used to but definitely works.

You need to find a job that you can either - sm - ECMT

[ In Reply To ..]
work the hours you want, that is to say have an assigned doctor/account and as long as you do it in 24-hour TAT (or 48 should you be so lucky); or work a split shift if an employee. I have only done employee once and did a split shift as I just had too much going on with my kids (they were 4 and 6 then), and that is what worked best with me. When they were younger I had several IC jobs where I could work whenever I wanted pretty much and would just work when they napped or slept at night, one IC job had to have the work back in the morning by 10 or so, the other as long as I did 500 lines a day they did not care when it was done. You obviously need something like that but as you know they are hard to find, most MTSOs want to know when the work is coming in, i.e. set schedule even if you are an IC (illegal as we all know). All I can suggest is inquiring if you can do a split shift and try doing 8am-12pm or 9am-1pm then 7pm-11pm or something like that. You have nothing to lose by asking. Currently I am back to IC and can work when I want as long as I get it done TAT, that is really the only kind of "job" I can do (or want) as I still jump thru too many hoops though it is easier now since the kids are old enough to ride the school activity bus which drops kids off at various places afterschool, daycare, karate, gymnastics and dance, great thing they do for the parents and makes my life a bit easier on the days they have dance for me.

I used to tell my kids I was going to tie them up and put - put them in the closet.

[ In Reply To ..]
Of course, they knew I was kidding and would never do that. Yeah, that right. I wouldnt do THAT. Yeah, yeah, thats the ticket.

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