For the stepparent employed by a company that allows work at home, or is self-employed, the degree of flexibility in the job determines some of the necessary actions. For example, breaks between periods of work allow the stepparent to play with the children, listen to their descriptions of what is going on in their lives, or simply enjoy some time together.
Unless the stepparent does most of the work when the children are in bed, it is extremely difficult to manage without some type of childcare. Trying to meet a looming deadline, combined with a child who has a problem and isn't sure if this adult is someone he or she can talk to, is too much to balance, particularly at the beginning of the marriage.
One of the sites that urges work-at-home parents to use babysitters is Balancing Work At Home With Children, and the article offers many good suggestions for mixing work with interactions with the children. The baby sitter is a possibility, though, only if the stepparent is able to work with the level of household noise that is generated, or has an office that is away from the center of activity.
Successful Strategies for Working at Home is an excellent article that answers many of the work-at-home parent's questions about available time, structuring the day, childcare arrangements, being with the family, and interruptions.
For more helpful ideas, visit Tips for Working at Home. The authors give details about developing a self-imposed structure, avoiding snack attacks, and eliminating time wasters.
There is a group that has formed an association of parents who work at home. The Home-Based Working Moms membership offers moms and dads support, networking, information, and a monthly newsletter. The web page, which offers a great deal of information, states the group is "an advocate of home employment and home business to allow parents to spend more time with their children."
An important consideration for stepparents working at home either as homemakers or as paid employees, is to allow time for themselves. At Personal Time for Parents is a Necessity, Elaine M. Gibson says that "mothers often have a tendency to work days and nights to keep the home in order, and have great difficulty finding time for themselves." Gibson continues: "With all the pressures and demands of things that must be done, parents tend to see personal time as an option, something that can wait till later."
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