Parents’ Summer Job

The Roanoke Times:

The final bell has rung and school is out. Let the fun begin.

Well, the camps and the baby sitters and the dropping off and picking up, and the pool membership and … you get the point.

It’s something children often don’t understand: Their elaborate summer plans can be a headache for mom and dad.

Take Jeanne Johnson, 47, of Roanoke.

She began one day last week cooking breakfast and knocking out some small-business accounting. Then it was off to take her daughter Rachel, 9, to a volunteer program. Back home to do office work. To the store to buy food for the church pantry.

Then, pick up Rachel. Lunch at home. Haircut, which was rescheduled because the business was closed. Errands around town, including an earring run and art visit before Rachel’s orthodontist appointment. To the post office to send mail but (whoops!) home again because the mail was left there. Deal with voice mails, phone calls, e-mails, help run small business. Pick up son, Joey, from after-school program. Dinner as a family.

And Johnson considers that an easy day.

Johnson and the rest of her clan, including her husband, Steve, and her son, Joey, 12, have made a choice: Jeanne Johnson will work from home as a customer service representative/office manager for a small company, largely because of the craziness that ensues at schools’ end.

The Johnsons are just one of the many families who deal with the struggles and craziness of summer. They know it’s not all fun in the sun, as moms and dads around the Roanoke Valley balance jobs against keeping their children occupied after school lets out.

For Johnson, that required a decision: Work at home and free up time to take care of her children, or juggle her mom duties, constantly leaving the office for pickups and drop-offs.