I keep hearing how hard it is for people to work from home with kids around, i hear a lot of complaining and whining from ppl saying they can only work 4hrs because they have kids and asking others without kids to take their load. Every meeting starts with a few ppl venting out at how hard their life has become! All this when there are doctors and nurses with kids putting their lives at risk by going to work as well. I am not talking about ppl with infants or kids under 3-4 years, who are more dependent and in need of continuous help and are typically in day care when parents go to work. I am talking about older children in the safety of regular upper middle class home. But is it really that bad. People are no longer spending time commuting. They have 1-2 extra hours available to fix a sandwich for their kids. If ppl remember their own childhood, a lot of them especially immigrants many of them took care of themselves and their siblings as kids, when their parents were at work. They kept themselves busy with school work, TV, video games and play and had a sense of responsibility? But now people act like they need to constantly watch their kids and can’t do any work when kids are around. Are they that easily bored that their parents need to keep them engaged? A little bit of interruptions is fine, but are kids that much in need of constant attention that no work can get done? Also here i am only talking about white collar tech desk work like programming, project mgmt, product mgmt, program mgmt, biz dev, sales etc. Is this some weird lazy ass entitled syndrome or a real problem? It’s certainly an inconvenience. But is life really that hard wfh for a couple of weeks? Feels like some people are using this to scale down their work hours drastically and transfer their workload to others. Are we losing perspective of real hardship in a once in a lifetime crisis time?
Don't forget that schools are closed now and you can't just send kids outside to play. Sometimes keeping them indoors is a task as well. Also doing school work is nowhere as demanding as doing your job.
Dude, I'm sorry but I don't know which school your kids go to but schoolwork in USA is too easy (before college).
Yes it really is that bad. It is not a lazy ass entitled syndrome, as it sounds like you've convinced yourself it is. As someone without kids, it is exhausting to be in the same room as a kid 0-10 years old for even an hour. I can't imagine having them around 24/7 and being expected to have the same work productivity.
So ppl live are living in 1 room apartments with kids?
They do! Also would you leave a 1 year old in another room by themselves for 8 hours?
I have a 3 and a 6 year old, my wife and I both work and my life is currently a nightmare. They fight constantly and if they aren’t fighting they are annoying one of us or just generally being needy. Having kids is tough, regardless of age. The absolute worst thing a person without kids can do is assume they know anything about how a parent should act or feel. The only thing that maybe tops it is making a comment about how you sympathize because you have a pet or something like that
Why are your kids fighting so much or being so needy...sure sounds like a nightmare! True seems like some kids are better raised than others. I hope we realize that there are real doctors and nurses going to work even now, they have kids too. But our affluent tech workers would have us believe they are the ones living the nightmare.
Lol, just posting to be a judgmental a**hole? How old are your kids? How well do they behave? Kids thrive on routine, when you upend everything and force them inside and with parents who can’t devote their whole attention to teaching and reinforcing their development it’s rough. Oh, and GFY
I have a 4 yo, 1.5 yo, and 5 month old at home. Help. FWIW, I still manage to get about 5-6 hours in.
Problem is my 5 year old wants to sit in my chair and watch videos. 1 year old also crawls into bedroom while I’m trying to work.
You haven’t disciplined your kids. It shows.
People just like to complain. That's what I think.
Parent of a 4yo here. It’s been tough. I’m trying not to complain. I am trying to explain to my colleagues what to expect. Next week we lose the nanny. Shits about to get real.
People just complain for inconveniences. These are inconveniences which can be settled. Not hardships or problems even worth discussing. Immigrant kids are sadly very pampered and never made to learn to do things by themselves or keep themselves engaging(from my observations). I have 2 kids btw.
Man if I was still a kid I would be loving this. I would play WoW all day, not bothering my parents (except for meals) , and not caring to go outside
You say “kids” like every child between the age of 0 and 18 is exactly the same. Yes, younger kids or kids with special needs require constant attention. Older kids may need help getting their schoolwork done, or may be lonely/bored because they can’t play with their friends. Comparing the current situation with normal childhood is absurd.
Entitled schmuck spotted!
OP has edited their post considerably since I posted my response.