Father's World | Home Office Know How

AIN’T NO CURE FOR THE SUMMER-TIME BLUES OR FREEDOM CRY: WHEN THE KIDS (FINALLY) RETURN TO SCHOOL

by Jeff Zbar

Yahoo! Phooey!

Guess which of the preceding is a) a proclamation of joy, b) an exclamation of resigned defeat, and c) a popular Internet search engine.

If you’re a work-at-home parent, Yahoo! is a freedom cry. It’s your elated outburst at the first day of school this fall, a day that seemed, in retrospect, to come about as quickly as, well, the first day of a new school year ever comes for a work-at-home parent. By comparison, the Jurassic era was just a nanosecond on the flowchart of time.

If you are a child of that parent the second is your crestfallen resignation at the realization that yet another year of school has found you.

If you guessed C, you’re either single, a married DINK (double income, no kids), independently wealthy and don’t know what schedule the nanny has the kids on, or doubled-over laughing as your adult kids cope with your grandchildren the way you dealt with your kids a generation ago.

The call of summer sends work-at-homers heading for the hills. But, any wise and learned work-at-home parent entered summer break prepped for battle. The closet was full of games and crafts, and the pantry and fruit baskets were brimming with snacks, destined to fill idle time, and young minds and tummies that otherwise would have pestered you so relentlessly that you would have happily sauntered back into the corporate tower downtown.

Assuming the kids were too young for camp (can anyone say, "sleepaway"? Both sessions, please), you likely had a mother’s (or father’s) helper – and a back-up – lined up to aid you during the summer lull. You had sitters scheduled for times you needed to go to meetings. You had in-laws or parents on call for emergencies. The governor’s office was on the hotline, and the national guard was on high alert.

If you were a wet-behind-the-ears newbie stumbling through your first summer at home with the kids, you probably choked. You waited too long to arrange a helper or sitter, your parents or in-laws took that three-month cruise to Asia, the governor laughed and the national guard was busy spit shining their collective boots.

A summer – or winter or spring vacation break, for that matter -- handled correctly brings with it a (relatively) seamless transition from school to vacation and back to school again. In our household, my wife Robbie will have arranged the kids’ activities to limit their intrusion on my workday. She would have altered her own work schedule to be more accommodating of my needs. And then she would have reminded me daily of the lengths she went to to be more accommodating my needs. You all read it here, "Thanks, dear."

Every summer break is a juggling act for the work-at-home parent, especially those without a spouse who sweats the details. We’re likely the only bunch praying – nay, lobbying -- for year-round school, if only to get the kids out of our hair just a little longer. After all, who can learn about four billion years of earth history in a miniscule 180-day school year?

Now, understand one thing. I love my kids as much as the next guy. Probably more -- I just came off a looong summer with them. Working from home gives me the free time I desire to watch them grow without need for daycare or aftercare. It gives me the time to bond and grow with my progeny. It gives them time to explore their world and expand those inquisitive little minds, to swim and ride bikes, and to find out what that little green button on the humming box under daddy’s desk does. Again. And again.

So with the arrival of fall, it’s time to rejoice in a new school year. It’s time to await the coming change of seasons. And it’s time to anticipate, with a great yearning and hope, the arrival of a fresh session of the legislature to plead for year-round school. I’m passing the hat for a hot-shot lobbyist, if anyone’s game. Just file the deduction under "medical expenses," as in preventative medicine to save your sanity.

Journalist and author Jeff Zbar has worked from his home office in South Florida since 1989. He recently published Home Office Know-How, a tips book on working from home. Get a copy at here at Father's World bookstore, or by visiting his Web site, www.goinsoho.com. His kids would appreciate it.

Ask The Expert
If you have any questions regarding this or any topic discussed in Father's World you can always drop a note to "Brain Wiz". Father's World has a complete staff of experts in all areas from pediatric medicine to relaxation therapy. So please drop them a note and they will be more then happy to answer your questions.

Say Hi! to Winston

Winston@fathersworld.com

— TOP —