If you’re a freelance translation parent, either Mom or Dad, school holidays can be both the best of times and the worst of times. Of course, being a freelance translator means you have a very flexible job, and that’s something to be very grateful for. However, having children home on school holidays can be difficult and stressful when you have a deadline to meet.
Depending on how many children you have and their ages, you have various options –
You might organize a work schedule while your children are at home with you;
Pay for childcare in the form of a summer camp or even a babysitter;
Take that period of time away from work - or work fewer hours;
Or some combination of any of these strategies.
Every family is different and what works for one family won’t work for another. Some freelance translators have a spouse or partner to help out, and other families have financial considerations that must be catered to. Generally, freelance parents find that they work more at nights when their children are home on school holidays, and that’s not such a bad thing if it means you get to spend quality time with your children during the day – let’s face it, it’s only a temporary measure because soon they’ll be back in school.
If you’re concerned about how to plan for the summer, here are some ideas we’ve come up with that may be of assistance –
Involve your children in the planning. Again, we’re talking about children who are old enough to understand that you need to work and who are old enough to help out. Plan for the whole family to maintain one quiet hour during the day – this will be when the children read, play games on their phone or tablet, watch television and so on, and this will be your Eging of interrupted work. It’s amazing how much work you can get through in one short hour!
Steal moments here and there. If your children are late sleepers, this is the time for you to get up as early as possible and get through as much work as you can prior to your children getting up. Perhaps when your spouse or partner comes home from work they can take the children and you could have another uninterrupted hour of work prior to having dinner.
Make a habit of keeping a small laptop or netbook with you at all times. Take it with you when you’re at the park, the pool, or basically, wherever you go because you never know when you’ll unexpectedly get some free time. That being said, we’re not suggesting here that you work constantly while you’re with your children. It’s very important that you spend quality time with them and that their perception of you is not that you’re constantly working.
