Just had a "meeting" where my son decided to unmute himself and ask me why I have a "big voice" on the computer. My boss heard everything. I'm done pretending this works. Anyone else struggle with WFH when your kids are still in that chaos age? The 6yo I can handle, but the 3yo is a wrecking ball between 10am-2pm. Daycare's closed next week and I'm already dreading it.
I started doing calls with my video off when my kids are around. sounds weird but it actually freed me up mentally knowing they can't see the chaos
three year olds honestly have zero concept of mute buttons. they see the camera and think it's a window to whoever's on the other side. my daughter once tried to hand the laptop a snack for the person on the screen
same exact thing happened to me. I just told my team upfront like 'heads up I'm doing this with a toddler in the house, sometimes there will be noise' and suddenly nobody cared when it actually happened
this is why I finally caved and got my kids into part time daycare again. people act like that's giving up but honestly having that 15-20 hours a week to actually focus changed everything about how I show up at home
The unmute moment is brutal. At least your boss has kids too probably? Like they have to understand at some point
"big voice on the computer" is hilarious though. that's actually cute. but yeah the WFH with little kids thing is fundamentally broken unless you have childcare coverage
Did you ever consider just setting boundaries with work hours instead? Like 9-2 with no calls because that's preschool pickup time or whatever
I've basically given up and told my team "if you hear a toddler scream in the background, I will explain after the call." Made it weirdly better because now I'm not catastrophizing every noise
honestly your boss probably found it human and relatable. way better than pretending everything's perfect. kids are kids
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the "big voice" comment is actually hilarious though. that's his honest observation lmaooo
The "big voice" thing killed me. Kids have zero filter about that stuff