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Comment by piyush_soni | Hacker News Reader

Did their sample involve men with a 2 year old at home that constantly needs their attention as long as they are at home, and thinks that when their father is sitting on the laptop, he's making pink and blue spheres in paintbrush?

Honestly, I can achieve little at home these days and feel like I'm doing injustice to both, work and the kid.

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Honestly one of the biggest motivations I have to work from home which I otherwise dislike is to be there for my children when they're 2.

Especially since where I live (Israel) like most of the world men and women are still usually not equally responsible regarding child care and I personally think remote work could help with that (as well as personal motivation to be there for my kids).

I work from home, and my wife looks after our children during the day.

Working from home has been great for us all - we get to have breakfast and lunch together every day, and I'm around to help out at those times (if you've got young kids, you'll know meal times can be stressful at times!).

I don't think it's possible to work from home and look after a child at the same time - that won't give your work or your child sufficient focus.

Of course it's not, sounds like the OP has a problem with discipline, both his own (actually work rather than play with child), and the child (who hasn't been told to leave alone)

I'm assuming that there is someone else actually looking after the child, you can't leave a 2 year old alone for more than a couple of minutes (and even then you have to keep one eye on them)

I'm amazed to see some people here on HN could be that judgemental. You don't even know me and you somehow think that I wouldn't have asked my kid to let me work alone. My wife is there all day to take care of the child, and even though she does everything she can in her capacity, I don't know how much can you discipline a 2 year old who just can't resist being with her dad. Not sure how understanding/wise toddlers are in your part of the world.

You need a home office with a door that closes (and maybe even locks). You also need to be explicit on your work hours with your family. I have none of the problems you have identified.

Agreed. I've been working from home for 10 years and my wife and I homeschool our 7 kids. When Daddy's in his office he's not to be disturbed. And I absolutely love being able to be around to help and enjoy those special moments.

There are times when I'll message my team "Beautiful day here - I'm taking the kids to the park for a couple of hours." and then shift my work scheduled to after the kids go to bed.

I wouldn't trade this for any office job.

Very similar situation as you. Kid will love to hop on my lap and play with the mouse. He's even participated in a few conference calls! Luckily, his grandparents are nearby so I will drop him off every single day. Huge peace of mind and doesn't get in the way of work. I'm considering day care now as I don't want to continue to burden the grandparents (they say they love it, but they have lives too!) Is day care an option for you?

Yes, it's an option, but my wife is a stay at home mother so she takes care of her mostly. It's just that my kid can't resist knocking my door to see me or talk to me. And I'm surprised to see all others who are chiming 'discipline', she's just 2, so not sure how much can we discipline her right now.

That's sweet. I can see how that can be tough though, how do you say no? It'd be a welcome interruption for me, but I think I'd be able to shut the door/block it out when needed. My wife is home during the summers (works at a school), so I could have her play interference as necessary.

Yes, it's a welcome interruption for me too, and that's all the problem :).

I think 'discipline' is the wrong term. Rather 'training'.

I worked from home large portions of the time from pregnancy into middle school twice and this was never an issue for me. My office was always off limits to the kids (no hope of baby proofing anyway), I had structured work hours where my wife knew to push note cards under the door and I would address them when the time was appropriate. When the kids were unable to be quiet, and I was working on tasks that needed deep focus, the wife took them to the park.

Do you live in a 1-room home?

Nope. Whenever I try to work from home, I work from a separate room, and close it - but then the room does not have an attached bathroom inside, and there are other things (water/food etc.) for which you have to come out - and once she knows I'm at home, she will bang the door every few minutes to come in, to talk or play with me.

That's a teachable moment and one you can fix.

This has to be a different strokes for different folks kind of situation (the modus operandi for parenting) but just in case you truly are in need of the answer: discipline.

Just chiming in to agree with the other posters. This behavior can be corrected.

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