Help me figure this out..

[Stayseeliz]

DH is self employed and going into his busiest time of year. He is swamped this time of year and I normally make phone calls for him. I have to call all of his clients and get drug lists from them. This normally isn't a quick phone call and they're reading things to me like "gabapentin 150mg 3x a day" so I need quiet and need to be able to hear.

 

I've been doing this several years but this year is complicated since we have an 18mo who is LOUD and a tiny house. DS11 watches her for awhile but she hates staying in one place and she's a pin ball. She isn't interested in tv at all. She's so active. I tried taking them into the backyard but they're jumping on the trampoline and calling to their friends in the yard next door while I'm on calls. It's loud and unprofessional.

 

I'm going to set up an email account where people who are comfortable can email their lists to me but he deals with seniors and many of them aren't tech savy and comfortable with email.

 

Tomorrow he's going to stay home with the kids while I go to Starbucks or somewhere quiet and make calls since he doesn't hit his super busy time for a couple of weeks and has a little free time. But I'm trying to brainstorm other ways to get some quiet to make these calls. It's a loooooong list of people to call. I don't have anyone to watch the kids while I make calls so that's not an option. I'd love advice! Thanks!

[Julie Smith]

For tomorrow wouldn't it make more sense for him to go out, and you stay home in the quiet empty house?

[Stayseeliz]

For tomorrow wouldn't it make more sense for him to go out, and you stay home in the quiet empty house?

 

It would mean keeping four kids out and occupied for 4-6 hours while I make calls. He'd do better at home for that length of time and if I'm out I won't see all the stuff that needs to be done around here.

[Tap]

I am really curious....what kind of business does he have?

 

Do you have to call during regular 9-5 hours? Could you call in the evening or on the weekend? Are all the clients in your time zone? Can you start calling while the kids are still asleep or on nap time?

 

 

When I want quiet in a house full of people, I go to the garage or my car. If that is not an option, do you have a neighbor who will let you borrow a bedroom or office for a few hours while dh is there to watch the kids?

[5of5]

A couple of thoughts.

 

First, you could buy one of those combination head phone + speaker head gizmos (not sure what they are called). The headphones would, hopefully, block out most of the background noise.

 

Second, you could set up a second number, such as a Google voice, that you would tell people to call to leave a voice message of the details. That way, you could listen to the voice messages whenever things are sufficiently quiet. Also, Google voice will attempt to make a transcript of the message, which, if the caller is clear enough, may be accurate.

[Anne in CA]

I just wanted to say I feel your pain. My ds would not be quiet when I needed to make business phone calls when I was working from home. The last straw was when he broke my favorite lamp when my 11yo tried to stop him from bothering me.

 

Is there any way that you can tire them out really well with a lot of physical activity so that they are napping when you take calls?

[Stayseeliz]

DH is an insurance agent. I call all his clients this time of year to run prescription drug plans for them and do some customer service. It has to be quiet and I need to be able to talk. Today when DH went home I went and sat in the car for two hours and made lots of calls. That worked pretty well. I just need to bust my rear end before his crazy busy time starts in two weeks and he's gone from dawn until dusk.

 

I am going to try to make some calls during DD3's nap time but that's normally when I do school with the older two. I'm going to try to keep school going but I might take off here and there so I can get these calls made. I don't mind helping him at all but it's hard to find a quiet spot!