Before I started working, I never realized how much Addie interrupts. Of course, Jake is a little more understandable since he doesn't really get the whole "my turn to talk, your turn to talk," thing, but with Addie, I'm noticing for the first time that she has no qualms whatsoever about walking up to me while I'm on the phone with a customer and just starting a conversation.

On one hand, I feel kind of good that she knows I'm her mother first and always available to her if she needs me. On the other hand, telling me that she wants a cup of juice could probably wait 45 seconds. I actually snapped at her pretty hard today, and I could tell that she was completely shocked. I think she honestly didn't realize that she was being rude or interfering with my ability to work. We talked about it a little later, and she has agreed to wait until I hang up the phone to talk to me unless it is an emergency. We'll see how it goes. For some reason I feel guilty, like I've sacrificed being there for my daughter to take a phone call. Tom, my husband, says that is the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard, and I think that I'm going to go with that. After all, I'm still available to her nearly 100 percent of the day, and she could get me in an emergency!

I have to say, afternoon phone calls will be a lot easier if Addie is not always interrupting me. It makes me feel unprofessional to have my kids talking in the background when I'm taking down potential customers' information, and I have to admit that it does not seem quite right to ask someone to wait on me if I am making a snack for her or helping her in some other small way.

Note to self: I need to find a way of dealing with this that makes it less obvious what is going on to the person on the other end of the phone - just for emergencies, of course!