How do you balance the demands of solo entrepreneurship and motherhood? We asked some of our members at Madison Mompreneur for their tips working at home with kids during summer break!

It’s the age old question. How do I mom like I have no business and run a business like I’m not a mom? The answer is you don’t. But until cloning is invented, we still need to figure out how to balance the demands of solo entrepreneurship and motherhood. And the perennial challenge only increases in the summer months.

Maybe your kids are at a full-time day camp or a summer activity for a couple hours each day/week, or maybe you are the Head Counselor at Camp Home. However your summer looks, it is likely different from the rhythm of the school year. Which means you are faced with figuring out how to keep your business running, your income coming in, the kids entertained, and the house not in complete shambles. We asked a few of our members what their biggest challenges are when it comes to working at home with kids?

“The most difficult thing is not having focused time,” says Heather White of Heather Leigh Art. “It can be a lot of starting and stopping and then there’s mom guilt, of course.”

Carolyn Kimbro, Owner of Peachtree Interior Design echoed this sentiment in regards to splitting time between entrepreneurial responsibilities and caretaking. “[The most difficult thing is] dividing my attention. Everyone seems to need something the minute I hop on a phone call or say I need to focus.”

Divided attention due to frequent interactions and the pull to spend time doing all the summer activities topped the list of biggest challenges during the summers at home with kids AND a business. Luckily, our members also have a few tricks up their sleeve for how to fit in work around childcare.

Shannon Carothers, a Habits Coach and Host of The Successful Mama Podcast utilized special toys to distract her boys when they were toddlers. 

“I had a bin full of special things that they could do by themselves. Because they weren’t the same toys they played with daily, it held their attention just long enough for me to complete a task or two.”

As children grow into older elementary school, they can begin to understand the demands of work and can even be a part of how you plan your day. Rebecca Guntharp, owner of FIT4MOM Rocket City utilizes a whiteboard and daily meetings at the start of the day with her kids.

“[Together] we talk through the day, add in activities that they can do independently while I’m working and activities we can do together in our free time. This really helps set the expectations for the day and gives them a sense of ownership over our schedule.”

If you are sharing your home with pre-teens and teenagers sometimes it’s just about setting boundaries. 

“I schedule all of my phone calls for the same time of day every day. The kids know if my door is closed and locked, and it is during that time, I’m on a call,” says Tracy Abney, owner of Rocket City Doulas.

Sometimes you just need to lean on your village so you can get things done. Lauren Hooper of The Minimalist Wallet (and Co-Founder of Madison Mompreneur) remarks, “I may be a solo entrepreneur, but I’m a co-parent so I make it clear with my husband that a work-from-home day is not a clean/cook/entertain the kids-at home day; I will need all the reinforcements when he gets home from work.”

Ultimately, we must all make some tough decisions about what we can and cannot do during the summer. Expectations change along with our circumstances. We get to test our flexibility, ingenuity, patience, and perseverance as moms and business owners. Being clear about what you will prioritize is really the key to not feeling like you are failing in all areas. 

Juliana Piper of PiperMâché (and Co-Founder of Madison Mompreneur) makes a drastic shift once school lets out for summer. “I perform at a bare minimum in my business during the Summer, as my goal all along was to develop a business that allowed me to spend a carefree summer with my kids.”

While that’s not the case for everyone, a life that is designed for those ebbs and flows means your business isn’t completely sidelined during school breaks. It’s business as usual at Rocket City Doulas for Tracy Abney, “[however] personal/home things definitely lose some priority…With 4 kids home more often, we have more mess and eat more food…It’s ok if the laundry waits a bit longer because I’m taking my kids to swim.”