Being a work-at-home Mom is undoubtedly a unique experience. It’s especially interesting as a creative professional. Doing anything from home with kids all over you is difficult in itself, but when your job relies heavily on creativity and quiet time to “think”, working from home is next to impossible. That quiet time I need to explore my thoughts and cultivate content is non-existent.
By the time the kids go to bed and my parenting obligations are paused, I am so exhausted that my brain ceases to function. I do as much as I can during the two hour nap time I have, but even that is laughable. Two hours is about enough time for me to return a few emails and handle a few other odd tasks. It’s not enough time to write an entire post, shoot and edit photos, or many other things. Don’t even ask me when I have time to do any housework, because that usually comes AFTER my work is done (which is never). Get it? It’s a mess.
I often daydream of having a nanny or a mother’s helper to give me some much needed time to get caught up on my work, housework, or maybe even have some time for myself. It remains a daydream as those things don’t come cheap, and the funds for those things just aren’t in the budget. Still, my job is important to our family and I have to keep chugging along. My blog is a business and it requires a lot much time to run smoothly and efficiently. Where can I get the time?
I have looked into all the options. Many daycare centers are full time only with no drop-in option, and cost a fortune. I don’t need full time hours and can’t afford to pay that, so that was nixed quickly. Nannies are somewhat overkill, considering I don’t necessarily need one on one care. It started to feel like work-at-home moms were just out of luck. What I need is a few hours here and there to catch up on work, or do any number of things on my to-do list ALONE.
Then, I heard of KidsPark. KidsPark is a licensed child care center for kids 2-11, that is open days, evenings and weekends. It’s even open until midnight on Friday and Saturdays. (Date night anyone?) I almost did a back flip when I found out about them! Where have they been all my life?! No reservation is needed, all their teachers have a background in Early Childhood Education. Every day there are featured activities planned plus the already plentiful play space they have. Above all, it’s extremely affordable. Check your nearest location for their rates and details. Grayson and I tried out the location nearest us last weekend so that I could give you our feedback! (Charlie isn’t quite two years old, so she will have to wait a couple more months.)
It’s about an hour drive, so it’s not something I can use all the time, but how I WISH they had another location closer to me. I dropped Grayson off at about noon and decided to take that time to do some shopping and grab lunch with a friend in the area. We were greeted by the most friendly staff members who immediately welcomed Grayson and made him feel comfortable. It took about five minutes to get him all registered, which I did while he found a cubby for his shoes and got familiar with the area. He stayed for about three hours and when I returned to get him, he had made a handful of new friends, was smiling ear to ear, and had a special piece of art he made for me in that time! It couldn’t have been a better experience. He played video games, made art, and his favorite thing was the activity mountain (which is something they have in every location).
If you are someone who is interested in opening a franchise of some sort, I can’t put into words the need that there is for more KidsPark locations! In this day and age, one size doesn’t fit all for childcare and many moms are left struggling to find something outside normal business hours, or for random drop-in needs (like errands or date night, even). I can’t wait to see more of these popping up. Have you heard of KidsPark? Is it something you could use?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
No Comments