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Kids and home offices
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August 22, 1996: 4:48 p.m. ET
Throwing childrearing into the mix can complicate working at home
From Correspondent John Metaxas
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- Many people who start a home-based business do so for the independence, but working at home brings added responsibilities -- especially when you throw children into the mix.
Different families juggle kids and at-home jobs differently.
Lisa Roberts, a communications consultant, has worked at home since the birth of the first of her four children.
"I like to call myself the 'director of family and business affairs,'" Roberts said. "Your overall job is child care, housework -- and business."
Musician Richard Zoppo is a work-at-home dad whose wife commutes to a job in New York City.
"For three days of the week, I take the kids to babysitters, and the other two days, the children stay at home with me," Zoppo said. "It's a strange combination of pleasure and stress."
Experts say successfully running a home business while raising kids involves setting boundaries.
For instance, Bernadette Grey of Home Office Computing magazine recommends parents not to let children do schoolwork on the home office's computer.
"One, you can't deduct (the computer) from your taxes," she said, "and two, it has your business (records) on it and you really don't want to (risk losing them)."
Parents Jonathan and Amy Rubin lay down firm conduct rules for their two children during work hours.
"If I'm downstairs working -- that's Mom's workspace," Amy Rubin said. "Same with John and his office."
And when either parent is on a business call, the children "know they have to respect that and be quiet," the mother said.
Still, even the best system occasionally breaks down.
"I never know how much time I'm going to have to actually get my work done," musician Zoppo said. "Sometimes I just have to throw my hands up and say, 'Okay, we're going to play with Play-Doh or waterpaint.'" 
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