What To Do When You Hear ‘Daddy, I Don’t Feel Well’ On A Workday

Unwell children are a worry for parents at the best of times. It’s never nice to think of your little one suffering. But, things get worse if both you and your partner are in full-time employment.  Given that your little one will want nothing more than to snuggle up safe at home, one of you will inevitably have to take time out of the office.

abbysick

In the majority of cases, bosses are understanding about family needs. While they might not be able to give you the time off, the chances are they’ll at least allow you to work remotely. The issue there, of course, is that you’ll have no choice but to juggle a million things at once. As well as providing much-needed care, you’ll have to keep your workday afloat. And, that’s no easy task. Lucky for you, there are a few ways you can ensure you get this right. Let’s look at what they are.

Find a way to keep your child happy

Obviously, you’re going to need to check on your little one through the day. But, you also need to focus on your jobs. So, find a way to keep your child happy (if that’s at all possible) and occupied while you work. This could mean putting on their favorite film or letting them play with your phone. You might even want to buy them a book they can get stuck into. Either way, knowing they’re occupied can go some way towards helping you get your head down.

Make use of tech to stay in touch

Though you’re working from home, it’s essential you stay in touch with the office. This helps you keep on top of incoming tasks, as well as putting your boss’ mind at ease. So, be sure to make yourself available at all times using whichever tech your office relies on. That may mean logging on to programs like Skype or Google hangouts and messaging colleagues often. Or, if your company use landline text messaging services like those offered by Text Better, you’ll need to make use of these. Send email text messages on a regular basis so your boss knows your progress. However you do it, you need to ensure you prove that you’re trustworthy here. Otherwise, you’re sure to struggle next time sickness strikes.

Make a plan to ensure you get everything done

Given that your boss is trusting you to get your work done, it’s essential you’re as productive here as you would be in the office. That’s not easy when you have to stop every hour or so to check your child. But, by making a plan at the start of the day, you should be able to put your time to the best use. When you have a timeline to work towards, you’d be amazed how much more you get done. And, your boss might well be amazed too. At least, that’s the plan. Just like that, the disaster of sickness won’t seem so bad after all.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Superdads! 4 Hacks That Will Make Your Life Infinitely More Easy

There are some pretty fixed ideas about what a good dad is in the media, and it’s very easy to get caught up in the notation that the bests dad is one that does everything himself from cooking delicious and nutritious meals to repairs around the home. Of course, having some hacks and guidance on how to do these things without taking up too much effort can help your kids to think of you as a super dad without eating into the time you have to spend with them. Read more about this below.

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Cooking

It may be acceptable to pop some fries in the oven and serve them with burgers once a week, for the rest of the time more nutritious family meals are usually required. Of course, there is always the option of buying these in ready-made and created by chefs, but unless money’s no object you are probably looking for an easy way of making meals at home that fit the bill.

Luckily, there are several options that you can explore. The first is a meal box delivery service like the ones discussed at https://foodfornet.com/family-size-kid-friendly-meal-kit-delivery-services/ that will provide you with a recipe including a nutritional information breakdown, instructions, and all the ingredients you need. Something that makes it super quick and simple to serve healthy meals that the whole family will love.

The second option to consider is to plan for simple but healthy family meals and take some time at the weekend to prep and then freeze them. Then each morning all you need to do is take the relevant bag from the freezer and it’s all ready to cook when you get home, freeing up quality time that you can spend interacting with the kids rather than just cooking for them.

IT support

Dad often seems to be to go-to-guy for IT support in the home, whether it’s making a game play or fixing a laptop. Unfortunately, as tech gets more complicated, it can become more time consuming to fix any problem that does occur. Luckily, to help you with this is can be useful to use posts such as https://www.cprou.com/information/5-common-laptop-problems-and-how-you-can-fix-them/ that detail some of the most common issues with laptops and how to fix them. Save it to your bookmarks, and then you won’t have to go searching for help every time something goes wrong, and you can free up more time for fun stuff instead.

Coming up with fun activities

Lastly, a task that many dads find super tough is coming up with original and fun activities for the kids to do. This can be particularly trying if you aren’t a naturally imaginative person, and so it can take up a lot of time that you would rather be spending with your children.

Luckily there are some tactics you can use to help with this. In particular, it can be useful to sign up for a kid’s activity subscription service like the ones on offer at https://www.cratejoy.com/category/family-kids-subscription-boxes/ something that means you will always have a new activity and the resource to hand to complete it. Then you get to spend your time doing the activity with the little ones, rather than racking your brains trying to think of it. Good work Superdad!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Dad Cabs! Here’s What To Do With All That Waiting Time

Picking up, dropping off, and waiting for the kids when they go to parties, after-school clubs, track meets, and sports games are an essential and inescapable part of being a father. However, it often means that you are stuck in the car without anything to do. Now, some dads use this time to catch up on their Z’s but if you are looking for a more active an interesting solutions check out my guide below.

Dad blogging

One thing that you can dedicate this time to is updating your blog or catching up on blogs that you love to read. It’s easy to do as well as you need is your smartphone and a 3G or free Wifi connection. Of course, if you are planning to do some more intricate and detailed tasks like photos editing before you display them on your blog, it can be handy to have your laptop or a tablet to work on too.

Something else that can make this super easy is those fancy new automobiles that have wifi hotspots built in! Then you won’t end up eating through all your mobile data, and you can still stay up to date with all your blogging research and writing in time that would otherwise be spent doing not much at all.

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Play some games

Of course, some days you will want to use this time to kick back, relax, and have a little fun. One way of doing this that can make the time go super quick is to play games online or on your mobile device.

You might want to try a popular favorite like exploding kittens which is a hilarious online card game that you can get in app form. The aim is to be the last one standing, and the quick gameplay and hilarious sound effects make this simple game pretty addictive.

Mobile gaming consoles are a great way to kill some time.

Alternatively, you might want to play something that is a bit more in-depth. This is where mobile gaming consoles such as the PS Vita and the Nintendo 3ds come in. The fact that these are self-contained gaming systems mean that the quality of content is very high, and as they have built-in controllers it much more like traditional gaming experience on the go.

Popular title for the PS Vita include Killzone: Mercenary, whereas there is a range of quick and fun game for the Nintendo like Mario Kart and the Professor Layton series that can be picked up and put down easily., making them perfect for when you lose track of time or the kids finished their activities early.

There are other gaming entertainment options to consider as well when doing the dad cabs run, including the thrill of playing casino games online. Of course, you have to be aware that some sites require you to play with real money, although that is where the buzz lies for many players.

If you do decide on this option be sure to pick a site like WinnerMillion Casino that offers some fantastic sign-up bonuses to get the most fun you money. Then you can be sure that your money will go as far as possible and get you the maximum amount of fun for whenever you need to kill some time.

Organize those photos

If you are anything like me you have loads of video clips of the kids doing funny stuff, and pictures of key moments like birthdays and days out that are all over the place! That is why another smart way to spend your time when you are waiting for the little ones to finish their activities is to organize your photos collection on your phone.

Using your time in this way is beneficial because by putting your video and pictures into albums you can find them whenever you want. It also means its easier to upload them to the cloud or your computer when you get home so that you can keep them for the long term. Something that will ensure all those precious memories of the kids growing up are not lost when you switch to a new device.

Clean out the car

Lastly, it may not be the most fun option, but if you have kids it’s likely your car might not be as neat and tidy as you would like. With this in mind, why not use the time when you are waiting to give the kids a life home to clear out any rubbish, sort through the glove box and make it a pleasant environment for the family?

If you think ahead, you can even charge up the cordless vacuum and do the seats and floor mats as well. Now that is a smart use of your dad cabs waiting time!

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Awesome Ideas For Entertaining The Kids That You’ll Also Enjoy

As we’ve all experienced over the last few weeks due to the Easter holidays, children become bored at a second’s notice. The problem with this is that we have to find something for them to do as soon as possible before all hell breaks loose, and more often than not, the activities that are available for them to do aren’t exactly what you’d like to be doing. However, you could be crafty and prepare some activities and toys for the next period of time off with the children that they will enjoy just as much as you do. Here are some awesome ideas for entertaining the kids that you’ll also enjoy.

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Lego

No one can deny that Lego is one of the most all round fun ways to entertain the children. There’s something magical about sitting on the floor together and creating either one big build together, or separate ones that you can play with afterwards. The great thing about LEGO is that it’s widely available, and there’s no limit on what you can replicate. Perfect for those kids that love Minecraft because it’s a physical version of it (apart from the zombies of course) and it’s an activity that everyone in the family will enjoy.

Flying Drones

There’s something extremely exciting about having a toy that flies and being in control of it. Another perfect example of a toy that everyone in the family can enjoy. The best bit? You can buy cameras that you can attach to them to record it’s journey, or even take some incredible footage of you and the children! QuadcopterCloud offer a wide range of flying drones, and the option to buy a camera with it too. An even bigger bonus is that you can fly it once the kids are in bed and have some fun with it yourself!

Gardening

Kids love getting their hands dirty, and they love being able to help you with things around the garden. So why not take this opportunity to do some gardening and get the children involved? Plant some flower beds together, dig up some soil and water the plants for an easy and cheap way of entertaining the kids. You could even use the chance to teach them about plants and the way things grow by creating a vegetable patch together. Get them to pick out their favourite fruit or vegetable and grow it with them in the garden! An educational and continuing entertainment source that you can enjoy too!

Swimming

Children love activities that they wouldn’t normally be doing, so the idea and actual activity of going swimming with you will be a great way to keep them entertained for a few hours (and also wear off some of that pent up energy). It’s a family friendly activity that allows everyone involved to get some much needed exercise and enjoy some quality time together as a family!

swimming

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.