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By Linda M. Hamer

It is possible to turn your feelings of being overwhelmed by your home business into a beautiful mosaic... with each piece fitting perfectly into the wonderful work at home lifestyle you've created for yourself and your family.

Moms and Dads who work at home know the many challenges of being a parent and trying to work at home at the same time. If not done properly, this work at home arrangement can be a constant juggling act, one that few people are able to continue for long without feeling that they are putting one part of their life ahead of another. Unless you take the right steps to avoid it, the guilt and stress may slowly seep into your day, the collision of family into the business world, and vice versa. Many home-based businesses falter because of this, but it doesn't have to be that way! It is possible to turn your feelings of being overwhelmed by responsibility to your kids and responsibility to your work at home job into a beautiful mosaic... with each piece fitting perfectly into the wonderful work at home lifestyle you've created for yourself and your family.

Easier said than done, right? Wrong! If you already work at home, then chances are that your bookshelf is lined with business research and reference books. There are dozens of "Golden Rules" and countless books on the topic of children in the workplace. The advice from "experts" can be overwhelming, if not misleading. If you are new to the work at home community, save yourself some research and read on.

What it all comes down to is respect for the boundaries and limits that you need to set. Teaching your children to respect your work at home job, your papers and work space, your schedule and responsibilities a gradual process, one that is counterbalanced by your respect for their needs. In order to find this balance, it's important to make your children feel welcome and involved. As a mother of three, I've found that it's much simpler to include them in my day than to exclude them. Each of them have a logo shirt "uniform" that they wear when they come on deliveries with me. My six-year-old son wears his with pride as often as he can, even to school or out to dinner. He is so proud that his mommy is "the candy lady" in town. There is pride. There is respect. I get to work at home. I can't ask for more than that.

Here is how you can accomplish the impossible by weaving boundaries and respect into the fabric of your day:

· RESPECT FOR YOUR WORK AT HOME JOB OR BUSINESS: If this is a new work at home job or business, give your child time to adjust to the fact that you work at home. Talk about it, ask them for help in the planning stages, etc. Invite them on an informative tour of your work at home office. It is at this time that you will set very important boundaries and limits, the code of conduct for all family members as it relates to your work at home jobs and the ground rules. For example, I have a stop sign at the entrance to my workshop and my children have learned to honor and respect it unless there is an emergency.

· RESPECT FOR THE NEEDS OF YOUR CHILD: Keep your priorities in mind. Your child must come first. That doesn't mean that you should put every customer on hold because your child is interrupting you, or allow activities that will damage your work at home career, product or business reputation. It does mean that you must teach your child the difference between "needs" and "wants". The younger your child, the less they will understand this. Make it your job to take care of their needs before they become a distraction in your day and teach your children to respect your work at home job and help you create the work at home environment that you need in order to work effectively. Become an expert at Kiddie Triage, anticipate their needs.

· RESPECT FOR YOURSELF AND THE LIFESTYLE YOU ARE CREATING: Understand that your work at home business or work at home job will prosper if you prosper as a parent. You will be happier and you will live in better emotional health if you take control of your day. If at all possible, schedule your work at home hours to accomodate them while they are young. Make your outgoing business calls during naps or while their favorite TV show is on. Catch up on paperwork and internet business early (before they awake) or late in the day (after they are in bed). My children were only 3,5, & 7 when I opened my business and started to work at home, and I learned very quickly that I had to control my work at home calendar or it would control me. My days were pure chaos to the untrained eye, but it was heaven to me.

· RESPECT FOR THE LITTLE LIFE IN YOUR HANDS: Even when you work at home, it is so easy to get caught up in pleasing your employer or running your business. Tell your children how lucky you are to be with them during the day (because you are!) and to be able to work at home. Lots of kisses and hugs in between phone calls go a long way. Their time with you is precious, so don't squander it. You're lucky to be able to work at home. Enjoy your lunches together, hang up their artwork in your work at home office, and take an interest in what your chatterbox has to say.

When you work at home you do truly have the opportunity to have it all. Give yourself permission to enjoy it all. These are the magic years, and you are the magician.

Linda M. Hamer is a work at home parent, freelance writer, wife, and mother of three. She is the owner / designer of a home-based Candy Bouquet franchise in Northern New Jersey, serves on the Candy Bouquet International Advisory Board, and is a Mentor to NJ area franchisees. Linda is the Vice-President of the Jefferson Township Chamber of Commerce.

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