What she said. :)
-- Geoff DiMasi P'unk Avenue 215 755 1330 punkave.com On Jan 9, 2008, at 12:25 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Hi there ~ > > I'm the bookkeeper for Office Nomads, a coworking space in Seattle, > and I'm also a work-from-home mom of three (yes, three!) homeschooled > kids, ages 3, 7, and 9. > > When Jacob (founder and my brother) was first polling for interest in > getting a coworking space started here, he got a lot of responses from > families wanting a local place where they could work in a relaxed > atmosphere where their kids were welcome. It's easy to bring a > newborn to any office for the first 4-6 months, while they're sleeping > a lot, strapped to mom's chest, or otherwise easy to entertain > quietly. It gets harder with a fussy baby, and once they're itching > to crawl around and get into stuff, they need a kid-centered and baby- > proof environment. It's simply not appropriate for parents to bring > their kids to a coffee shop and set them loose for a couple of hours, > yet we parents ALSO have a need to work in the company of others. > Childcare is okay for some people, but for those (like me) with a > budgetary aversion to passing their salaries directly off to a daycare > center, it makes little sense. What to do? > > Office Nomads has chosen to make our space welcoming to kids for SHORT > stop-ins - I bring my kids in to the office on Wednesdays for an hour > to have a meeting with Jacob and Susan, and we give them run of a big > unused room to play with a bunch of yoga balls. An hour or so is just > about all they can do without disturbing the rest of the coworkers, > because the majority of our members and drop-in clients are used to > working in a quiet adult space...I couldn't fathom bringing my kids > into the office every day for 8 hours; I would have a hard time > getting anything done if I was constantly trying to keep their noise > or energy levels at a static low. So I still work from home, and just > keep associated with Office Nomads as a resource. > > HOWEVER, I do believe that a very intentional community of parents > could set up a coworking space where their kids were not only welcome, > but part of the natural flow. A relatively soundproof room could be > dedicated to the noisier activities, they could set up a breastfeeding > corner, a childcare worker could be hired to keep things rolling and > provide some supplemental supervision, and the community could be > specifically focused on blending family and work life. Parents save > money on daycare, keep their kids close and connected to them, and can > integrate their social, professional, and family lives. I think the > benefits would outweigh the cost, even if it would be more expensive > and delicate to set up and operate. (I can specifically imagine > leasing or purchasing an existing daycare center or small schoolhouse > and converting a classroom or two into an office for the parents.) > > So I guess what I'm saying is that I think coworking spaces will each > have their own policies about kids (and pets too) depending on the > intentions of the founders and community members. There's room within > the movement for a lot of variety, and my heart SINGS considering the > strange and quirky possibilities of bringing people together. > > Kara Dugaw > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > bookkeeper > Office Nomads > Seattle, WA > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
