So many of us have had to adjust to working from home with kids in the house over the past year. Let’s put Pinterest aside this week, and talk about how to make this new normal work!

The Simple Pin podcast is 99% about Pinterest marketing with the occasional sidestep to address other issues that business owners face. Today is one of those special episodes. If you are wanting to deep dive into Pinterest marketing advice, then by all means listen to one of our other 222 episodes. 

But if you are a parent who is staying at home with children while also working or growing a business, I want you to know I see you. And not only do I see you…I am you. 

There is nothing quite like trying to work, or be a serious entrepreneur, while simultaneously helping your kids learn to use Zoom or Google Classroom. Not to mention, now you are also the P.E. teacher and lunch lady. It’s a lot, my friends. 

My guest today is Gerry Spears, from Foodness Gracious (you may recall Gerry from a previous episode about visual story-telling on Pinterest). Gerry chose to be a stay-at-home dad 10 years ago when his son was born. He is now at home with two children while also running his very successful food blog.

In today’s podcast, Gerry and I are discussing the transition from full-time parent to having your kids in school all day…to the whole new world of a global pandemic and the kids unexpectedly home again all day. We then dive into some practical strategies for working at home with kids.

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Working at Home with Kids: What It Currently Looks Like for Me

Before Gerry shares his tips, I wanted to give you a sense of what it has been like for me to make some of these transitions. 

My kids are currently 11, 13, and 15., They attend three different schools. When the pandemic hit, it was like my life was a spinning top. We were spinning and spinning, with no idea where we would end up.

If this had happened a few months prior, it would have been much easier because as long-time listeners know, my husband was a pastor for years and he was home a whole lot more. But right as COVID hit, he took a new job back with a local business. That left me at home, running a business with 38 employees, and trying to figure out how to do online school with three kids at three different schools. 

In the spring, when my children first came home, we decided that we had to do just enough to make it to summer — just enough to get through. The thing is, we live on the west coast (as does Gerry) and our kids have never had a chance to go back to school in-person. 

When fall came, we knew we had to face online school full-time, which brought its own set of struggles. We had to overcome learning struggles, navigate online technology, and keep up with assignments — all the things that go along with having three students learning at home full-time. 

The Importance of Communication

October and November didn’t bring with them easier times. Things were tough, and we had to make a decision about how we were going to make decisions. 

For our family, it all came down to communication.

We had to sit down and have an honest discussion about school. We had to recognize that we were dealing with something really difficult,