Every now and again, I decide my children are freaks – who else has kids that will go for salad before meat at a BBQ?

Anyway, both my boys love playing Monopoly, and have for years. On Mother’s Day, after we got back from lunch, we (read Mummy) wanted a rest. Mr 8 had other ideas, begging and pleading to play Monopoly.

This is a picture I took of the board on Sunday. I lay on the couch and rested while we played. Mr 8 won, with over $900 in a neat pile of $100 notes – he had those and a few $1, while I had just over $400 in different size notes. We both had a lot of fun.

I’ve found Monopoly to be a great game because it teaches the boys about money. They are familiar with the different notes (even though they look different to the ones in Mummy’s purse) and need to add and subtract. In this game, Mr 8 was banker, so he had to work out change when we bought property or had to pay for anything. There’s also learning about paying rent when you land on a square.

There are also lessons about taking turns and about being a good winner and a good loser.

You will notice the money in the middle of the board. We have made up a rule that if you need to pay tax or a fine, you put the money in the middle of the board and if you land on the “Free Parking” square, you get to keep the money in the middle of the board.

When we had finished the game, Mr 6 decided he wanted to play, but it was time for dinner. I guess I know what we’ll be playing this weekend!

…when your 7 year old wants his own website! Over the weekend, I’d spent a bit of time playing with this site, finding a template, editing content etc, while the boys were playing. Well, after comments about my site, my 7 year old decided that he wanted a website too!

So, as any good business mum would do, I installed a Wordpress blog for him on this domain. Using my contacts on Facebook, we found an appropriate template for him and I let him do his thing. He hasn’t quite figured out that typing rules to some made up games won’t necessarily be a computer game automatically! But he is having fun. He’s even got his first comment!

So, Nutty Natty has begun, though we do need another nicname for him… Something to do with monkey’s so we can keep the same template…

He excitedly told his teacher this morning about his website and she’s going to encourage him as posting on his blog will help him with his storywriting and literacy skills. He’s planning to show his class his site for show and tell this morning!

How times have changed – when I was 7, I didn’t even know what a computer was!

The boys have been sick this week, so I decided they needed another quiet day at home today so they’d be ready for school tomorrow… They are playing happily with their Bionicles, so I thought I’d have another go at this site and find a template that suits me better than the standard ones that come with WordPress.

 Kids are great for feedback – especially 5 and 7 year old boys… They came in to my office, so I asked them what they thought of the template.

Seven year old Nat replied “It’s boring!” I asked him why and his response – “It just is”.  In an attempt to get more out of him I asked what would make it more interesting, half expecting something along the lines of a photo of him or similar. His reply: “Bionicles!”

His 5 year old brother agreed…

Hmmmm, not sure I’ll be asking their opinion on web design very often!

As any parent will tell you, one of the worst things about having small children is sleep deprivation. New babies require feeds around the clock, as they get older, there is teething, illness, toilet training, nightmares, and more that can result in sleep deprivation for parents.

As a small business owner, most of the day to day tasks are yours and you have no one who can cover you during times when you have had no, or little, sleep.

So, how do you keep going? Here are some ideas.

Firstly, don’t be a hero! You are not superman (or superwoman), and no one expects you to be. Prioritise your tasks and only get done those things that are of a higher priority. Finish a project for a client is important, sorting those paperclips can wait until another day!

Secondly, if you work at home, try and rest while the children rest. This doesn’t have to be a sleep. It can be lying on the couch watching the midday movie – just aim to have some down time to recharge your batteries. If you don’t get some rest, you are less likely to be able to complete your work to a standard you are proud of.

Thirdly, if you can, have an early night. Business tasks, and housework, can wait until tomorrow. It is not a tragedy if the washing doesn’t get brought in and folded up, or you left a phone message to return until the next day.

If for any reason, you have tasks that needed to be completed and you couldn’t get them done, communicate with your client. If your baby is teething and you have been up three nights in a row, explain to your client. If your client has children, they will understand. Reassure them that it is high on your list of priorities and it will be completed, you have just been delayed a few days.

Sleep deprivation is hard to live with. Your business doesn’t have to grind to a stop because of it, and neither do you.

Article Source: http://www.therepozitory.com.au

Melissa Khalinsky is a work at home mother of 2 boys. She runs Business Mums Network, a support and information network for parents.