Welcome to Double Duty Parent. My name is Rachel, the creator of the Double Duty blog. I am a full-time software engineer and full-time parent. Thanks to the company I work for, I can work at home full-time. I worked remotely before having kids and have continued since having my son. This has been an ideal situation for me, as I can continue doing what I love while also being home to raise my kids. My son is just under two years old, and let me tell you, it has been one heck of a ride working from home with him. Every stage has been a learning curve and looking back, every stage before has been easier than where we are.

              Every time he reaches a new milestone, I find myself Googling new ways to keep him entertained while I work. One of these times, I searched, “WFH with a toddler”; let me tell you, it was discouraging. I read many parent forums on different websites with the original poster in a similar situation to me and unfortunately, many of the comments were negative and unhelpful.  Most of the comments were like these (these are real comments that I copied and removed identifiable information from):

What you’re trying to do is really difficult, maybe impossible.

It isn’t fair to you trying to work and it isn’t fair to your kid. 

I understand where you’re coming from, but you’re also asking people to advise you how to do the impossible. 

For most people it doesn’t work well beyond the early baby days when they sleep most of the time.

It’s why the workingmoms sub has a ban on WFH with kid posts. Because it’s impossible!

You get the picture. I felt so defeated reading these posts. I was looking for support and ideas from other parents who work from home with their kids, and what I found felt like a slap in the face. After feeling a bit down in the dumps and defeated about the future, I had the thought that if there weren’t many resources out there for work-from-home parents, maybe I needed to create something.

              So welcome to Double Duty Parent, where I strive to post helpful blogs and activities to keep you sane while working at home with your child(ren). This is a judgment-free zone and safe space for parents to share their struggles, their accomplishments, and everything in between. If any of my blogs help, I would love to know. Or if you have any ideas for me to try, I would greatly appreciate that as well! I am still learning how to work from home with my son and will try anything!

              Since I am a full-time software engineer and a very busy mom, I aim to post something new every 2-4 weeks so check back often for new stuff or add your email to get notified of any new posts. I look forward to hearing your experiences!