On the other hand, my business hours are about to have an atomic bomb dropped on them. Phone calls become completely impossible as does 5 minutes of quiet thinking time to finish an email or an article. "MOMMMMMMM!!!!!" is the battle cry of the day, usually followed by, "I'm hungry", "I'm bored", "He hit me" or "When are you gonna be done so I can play on the computer?". Then, there's the dreaded, "Can we invite (insert name here) over?" ARGGGHHHHH! More children!!!! One little boy's nanny has this nasty little trick of pushing him out the door at 9am and then seems to never check on him the rest of the day. I'm not sure why she thinks I'm the nanny. There's nothing like having extra children running in and out of your house like they own the place all day.

Many of you are probably laughing and nodding in agreement with this scenario. It's great that your kids have so many friends and get to enjoy the "lazy days" of summer, but you still have a business to run. So, how can we successfully run a business and be a full-time mom when the kids are underfoot ALL DAY LONG?

Remember, this is the reason you decided to work from home. The most commonly named reason for launching a home business is to be close to children. Well, you're good and close now! Put a photo of your happy, smiling children next to your computer so you can be reminded of exactly WHY you are home. That will help you when one of them comes in covered in dirt and deposits a pile of it on your office floor.

So, here are some tips for making the most of working from home with children:

• Get up early.

• Most kids sleep in a little in the summer (the older they are the more likely they are to do that). Keep your regular schedule and get in an hour or two of work before they get up. Don't worry about getting dressed, just work in your jammies until you hear the pitter-patter of little feet!

• Go Wireless! 

• If you have a laptop, get a wireless card for it and set up your house for wireless! Take your computer outside and sit on the grass while your kids ride their bikes or play. At least you are there to say, "Oh, wow!" when they do something they think is FABULOUS!

• Put a signal on your office door. 

• If you have to make phone calls, tell your kids that if the door has a red circle on it, they better not even knock-BUT, if they are good, you will reward them when you're off the phone with some undivided attention! Put up a green circle when it's okay for them to come in and bug you!

• If your kids can read, schedule a thirty minute daily reading time.

• Tell them they have to sit in their rooms reading quietly-use that time to get 30 minutes of work done. We give out daily reading tickets and on Friday, my kids get to choose from a "Prize Box" if they have earned all five tickets that week. It really motivates them to read.

• Include them! 

• You are training future entrepreneurs. If you make a product or need to package customer orders, let them help-even if It's licking stamps or carrying boxes into the post office. Make sure they think they are the most important helper in the world! You can even pay your kids to help!

• Set limits for friends:

• Don't allow the neighborhood kids to run your schedule. Let your kids and others that they can't come knock on your door until a certain time. Some moms even have flag signals to let others know they're "open" for visitors.

• Let other moms know you work:
  

• Many of my neighbors had no idea I was running a business from the house. Hopefully, they'll "get" it and respect your time.

• The Tech Babysitter:

• Your kids will probably want to or get to watch TV or a DVD during the day. Schedule their "tech time" at a time that's convenient for you to be working. Only your kids want to watch Scooby Doo for the 16th time.

• Get out of the house -

•  schedule errands and take your kids so they feel like they've been out of the house and "done something" during the day. They will be less restless.

• Pay an older child to "babysit" 

• a younger one for an hour while you work-even if they are not old enough to REALLY babysit. It's amazing how "mature" a 9 year old can be when you put him in charge of a younger sibling for MONEY!

• Employ a "Mother's Helper" -

• a 12 year old would be delighted to make a few dollars playing with your kids in the back yard while you work. Just make sure the kids know the babysitter is in charge-not you. Otherwise they'll STILL come to you when they want a drink or a snack

• Find a summer day camp program

• -it will give you a whole week of full or half days to work and your kids will have a BLAST!

• Schedule bites of time.

• Tell your kids that if they let you work for 30 or 60 minutes WITHOUT interruption, that you'll give them an equal amount of "mom time".

Be creative when it comes to keep your work/motherhood balance this summer and remember that September is just around the corner!