Those of you that bake out of your homes and have kids still at home, how do you do it? I am finding it extremely hard at the moment to balance running my business and parenting my kids.

How do you schedule your day so you can spend time growing your baking business without your home life going crazy?

I have been doing both since both my kids were babies..They are now 8 and 10.It really is time management...When they were little I put on DVD'S(I know...Don't give me a lecture..LOL) and kept them close by so I could watch them.I have an open concept home so my family room is open to the kitchen.I ran around feeding them when it was time etc..I never...never baked when they were asleep.I always did it during the day and it worked out great.Granted my kids were really good and came in to see what I was doing once in a while but other than that..they weren't interested so that was easy cause they never touched anything or wanted to help..LOL..as they got older they knew Mom had cakes to do and did their own thing.I take them to and from school and volunteer there as well.I take a look at my weeks cake schedule and decide what I can do in advance and when and set out certain things to do on certain days..I usually bake Monday,Tuesdays..Make Icing Wednesdays..decorate Thursday and Friday...Now that they are both in school full time I have my days to my self and everything gets done..that way when they are home from school..I have time for them!!It will get easier..I promise!!

We are in CA so we have a commercial kitchen where my wife does all the baking, and we just had our first baby a few weeks ago, but if she was baking from home it just wouldn't work unless I was available to take care of the baby. I actually work from home myself (as an IT analyst, in addition to running the business), and when I am working my wife watches the baby. If she needs a break, I take a break from work.

It's been my experience that trying to focus on both working and watching the kids simultaneously will probably result in doing a subpar job on both fronts.

I have an almost 4 year old, so I don't technically have "kids" I have "kid". But having one child has its own issues, as you can imagine- "mommy, play with me!" ten thousand times a day.
My husband and I have it fairly easy, he works 4- 10s, Mon-Thurs, 12-10pm. So, in the mornings I bake and work, he takes care our little one, in the afternoons she still naps (3 hours sometimes!!!), I work, then she gets up and I focus on her until bedtime.
I have cake tastings and meetings at our home as well, and that is when the portable dvd player and Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus comes in handy

Its still difficult though, it is extremely hard to switch focus all the time. Its so tempting to just "get one more thing done," and to loose focus when naptime is over. But I try to focus on her as much as possible during that afternoon time, planning special things and making homemade meals. It is what it is, and I do the best I can.

This year we begin homeschool, so that will be interesting!

My kids are 2 and 5. They are really good about not bugging me when Im doing cake. I recently started to rent a kitchen so I dont have to worry too much about them getting in the way or bothering me when Im decorating anymore. But when I do cake at home I bought each one of them their own rolling pins ($1 at michaels!) and I give them some gumpaste or fondant to roll out on the other side of the counter while Im doing cake. That keeps them busy and they feel included.

I'm struggling with this myself. I have an almost 10 yo and a 13 month old. The 10 yo is no trouble at all but trying to do cakes with a baby? Not easy! At this point, I don't like to schedule more than one cake per day. I'll bake them when I have time, a day or so before I need them and then freeze them. The day before they're due, I'll fill them during the day, chill, and then frost and decorate after she's in bed for the night. It doesn't always work out this way but it seems to be the pattern. I also try to do anything I can in advance.

I work night shifts. I am renting kitchen after my kids are in bed. And it is a very careful time management indeed. But I dont remember when last time I went to bed before 12am. Planning "to do" list at night, so I had a clear plan about what to do during a day, so I can have fun with kids and still have productive energy at night.

Congratulations, Jason!

I am a home baker, run another company and we home school our 10 yr old. Our 4 yr old is in 1/2 day preschool 4 days a week. It is all about what you can and can not do. I have had to turn down business because I can only do so much with starting to neglect my first job..being a mom. Eventually, I want to leave my day job and make cakes full time but it is still scary to think about that yet.

I have a 6 yr old, a 3 yr old and an 11 month old. My hubby works a 8-5 job and my 6 yr old is in school. I try to do what I can during the day, usually baking and making and coloring icing since those are pretty much no-focus tasks. I usually decorate after the kids are in bed, which is around 7:30-8 at our house. Sometimes on Saturdays, hubby takes care of the kids almost all day so I can work on cakes that are due late Saturday or Sunday.

Oh good...I'm with KiddieKakes...haha...

I have a 25 month old and a 9 month old. As others said time management! I find that i can bake, mix my icings, and fondant easily while they're awake (usually in the morning between breakfast and snack time as they're both happy and content to play on their own) Then during afternoon nap time i get paperwork emails phone calls returned and sent. If it's a non decorated cookie order then i can do it while they're awake.
So far i've found that i need to wait until they're both asleep to do the decorating part as i just don't have the concentration to go back and forth. But i can do everything from baking to final coat of buttercream or fondant while they're awake w/o issues.
And of course Grandma and grandpa are always ready to help!! My BF works a lot (he has his own IT business), so he will watch the kids when he can, but usually when he's home it's strictly family time when the kids are up. Then when they go to bed we both spend a little time together then do our work..... Thankfully a lot of his work is remotely, so he can be sitting in the diningroom/kitchen keeping me company.

I feel that great time management would work wonders IF!!! you have kids that cooperate. I on the other hand have a 2 year old and 8 month old at home who require ALOT of parenting. I think I spend half my day trying to get one or the other down for naps, feeding them, changing them, playing with them. I struggle to find time to plan/make dinner, that once they are in bed for the night that's when the dishes get washed. So at the moment I don't have many cakes booked for the year, which is fine because I would have to do almost all the work in the evenings.

Anyways, just wanted to throw in an opinion in there that sometimes it just is too hard to do. Someday when my kids are in school it will be nice to focus on a fulltime business.

I work Tues & Wed at a local bakery.. yes, very convenient ... I usually bake Tues night or Wednesday through the day.. lay fondant on Thursday night & make up any extra decos.. then Friday dress the cake up ready for the weekend. My 3yr old daughter knows that the kitchen is a NO GO zone.. I can not handle her getting into the fridge or touching the benches whilst I working, so we have a barrier gate in place. It is a food safety regulation here in my state in Australia - No kids in the kitchen. Dora the Explorer and Angelina ballerina is my saviour