For work-from-home parents, Beanstalk HQ in Wexford offers relief — and snacks

Working from home saved me when I was laid off from my pre-pandemic job. The ability to earn while my kids were at home with me, at first, seemed like bliss. The lifestyle offered no commute, more family time, a much happier dog, and the flexibility to wear Rainbow Brite pajama shorts while on Zoom calls. But soon, I discovered that my workday/mom balance was akin to juggling flaming swords and healthy snacks.

The reality of working from home with young kids is chaotic: important meetings interrupted by tantrums, emails drafted with one hand while troubleshooting a frozen iPad with the other, and playdate schedules that never quite align with work deadlines.

Since the pandemic normalized remote work, parents of young children have been navigating this blurred line between professional and personal life with varying degrees of success (and sleep). A 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that 57% of working parents said balancing job responsibilities and child care was difficult, and nearly half reported feeling “burned out” most of the time. The pressure to be productive while keeping young kids entertained (and, for mini daredevils like my son, alive) has led to what some experts call a “second shift” of unpaid labor that’s mentally and emotionally draining, according to the New York Times.

Sure, I could have placed my kids in full-time daycare. But considering it costs more than my mortgage plus utilities, and my special needs son was rejected from several daycares, it simply didn’t work for us. So the struggle of working from home continues.

And that struggle includes my young son banging on the door during an interview, and the guilt of plopping both kids in front of screens for an unhealthy amount of time just to meet a deadline. Working from home with little ones is both a logistical and emotional challenge.

While my work schedule is now hybrid, and I’m about to enter that glorious phase where both kids will be in school full time (hallelujah), I was still thrilled to learn that a place like Beanstalk HQ, a work and play space that helps parents balance work and parenting, exists.

At Beanstalk, parents who are working remotely or looking for a flexible childcare alternative can work in a separate room while their children engage in supervised play under the watchful eyes of professional childcare providers.

I’ve seen a few different models of work-and-play spaces, some where the parents have to be in eyeshot of the kids, and other drop-in models that work as temporary daycare. Beanstalk falls right in the middle, where the parents must remain in the building but have their own separate spaces to work.

Parent spaces inside Beanstalk include the comfortable, brightly-lit cafe or the more office-like co-working space with standing desks, sitting desks, ergo chairs, and a dedicated quiet room. The co-working space is also equipped with a video feed of the play area, so parents can peek between tasks to check in on the kids. The cafe is a bit more like a coffeehouse, and includes a full coffee bar, snacks, and a cooler with drinks and food items for both adults and kids.

Beanstalk owner Chuck Traill is excited for the future of the cafe space. He explains, “We’re technically a class-three restaurant, according to Allegheny County. So we can serve just about everything; we just don’t for now. We’re focusing on coffee and some light refreshments.” Until the cafe is fully up and running, parents can use the one-hour breaktime midday to take the kids to nearby takeout places and restaurants.

I ran into Scott in the cafe, a dad of two who owns his own accounting business. Working from home had become stressful and distracting, and he has become a regular at Beanstalk. I asked him about his experience so far. “I love it,” he says. “A little bit of an interruption normally throws me off my [work]day. When you’re at home, the kids are so comfortable in that space.”

From my own experience, that comfort means messes are being made, arguments are happening, and the phrase “I’m so bored” is moaned.

Scott mentions another downside of working at home with kids. “If they want a fruit snack out of the closet, it turns into me walking into the kitchen and seeing [dirty] dishes. Now I’m sitting there doing dishes, and next thing you know, it’s four o’clock.”

With the flexibility and safety of Beanstalk, Scott has been able to concentrate on work and grow his small business. He says, “I mean, just from February until now, I grew my clientele from five to 20.” And he’s done so while his kids are having fun in a safe space.

Kids ages 2-11 are welcome at Beanstalk. The playspace is set up so younger kids can enjoy learning and sensory toys and run amok in a mini indoor playground while older kids can chill and watch a movie, play a board game, do a craft, or participate in a teacher-led activity or “camp.”

The day I toured Beanstalk, the teacher on staff, Michele, was running an art camp. Other popular camps at Beanstalk include a princess camp, adventure camp, and space camp, where children participate in themed activities.

While walking the space, Traill talks about the logistics of the program: “Beanstalk can take a maximum of 32 kids at a time. We can put people on a wait list if and when we get to that point, but [families] can sign up ahead of time. Typically, though, we have a lot of walk-ins.”

As I mentioned, my son had been rejected from daycares due to his special needs. When I asked Traill about accessibility, he said they are happy to accommodate all.

“We try to give [kids with special needs] a little more specialized care. One of the problems is also one of the benefits we have, because we now have a lower clientele, and we can handle those needs. That’s also going to be a curse in the future, as we will have to add more staff as we get more clients. So far, we’ve been pretty successful. Our staff are phenomenal with kids.”

As for signing up, the process is very straightforward and just as flexible as my son doing the splits in the background of my Zoom calls. Parents can even book parties or Saturday morning sessions. Traill explains, “You can either do mix and match and pick a couple of hours here, a couple of days there. You can sign up for the whole week or the whole month. We can take walk-ins as well.”

This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2025.