High-Tech Help For Working Parents
Working parents who are separated from their kids for eight or more hours a day have to work a little harder at staying connected. For tips and guidance, The Early Show talks to a working mom and a parenting expert.
Working mother Debra Santonlini's children are enrolled at the Kiddie Academy Daycare center in Hillsborough, N.J. Like many working moms, she can't be in two places at the same time. But, she is able to work and also occasionally check in on her children. Using a Web site called Parentwatch, she usually looks in on them from her desk at work or home office twice a day, for about two or three minutes each time. The Web site is one of a few that offers live streaming video from cameras installed at about 65 daycare centers nationwide.
Some critics argue that parents can't monitor their children effectively this way since the cameras are not placed in every inch of the center, but Santonlini sees the cameras as a positive tool.
There is also a concern that the cameras can either provide a false sense of security or that cameras might show a picture that raises unnecessary concerns, such as questions as to why a child isn't participating more in activities. Experts warn that with only visual images and no sound, you are never getting the complete picture.
Another concern for critics is that because of computer hackers, someone else might be watching your children. Although Parentwatch and sites like it are secured, it's still a concern to Santonlini, but she feels the benefits outweigh the possible intrusion of prying eyes.
Put Technology To Work
There are other tools that parents can use besides programs like Parentwatch to monitor their kids.
Carol Evans, CEO of Working Mother Media, says modern parents should take advantage of tech tools to stay in touch with their children during the day. Many parents already have a camera attached to their computers at home. That's another way to use the Internet to check in visually with older children who come home from school before mom and dad's workday is done.
Evans is also a big fan of cell phones for older, responsible children. She acknowledges that it can be controversial to give kids their own cell phone, but says it really does help in terms of staying in touch with them. She also suggests using walkie-talkies for older kids. It could work, if you live close enough to your work.
For the traveling parent who may need to be away from home for a night or two, you can read one of your child's favorite story books onto tape and have your spouse our babysitter play it for them while you're away.
Share Your Schedule
Evans says you should let your children know what's ahead for you on any given day. She suggests asking the children what their day is like too.
She believes you should schedule precise times for phone calls so that you don't catch the kids during their favorite TV show or when a friend is visiting. This will help prevent parents from calling at a time when the children is least likely to answer the phone. If you have more than one child, it may mean making several different calls to the house to catch them at the best time for each child.
If you are going to be traveling, you should spend some time before the trip explaining how long you'll be gone and how far away you are going.
Share York Work Life
Evans says that one of the most important things a parent can do to keep work from ruining their relationship with their children is to involve the children in their work life. She suggest bringing them to the workplace whenever possible. If you work at a place where that's just not possible, than you should find other ways to show them what you do. Rent movies or read stories about your profession. She believes that having your kids "plugged in" to what you do makes it easier for them to see you as an important busy person and that helps them resent your work less. It also helps them to understand those moments when they may try to reach you at work and you can't be available to them.
Overall, Evans says that staying connected is as much a benefit for the parent as it is for the kids.