We know that setting a good example is the number one job of any parent and it seems to be even more expected from mum as opposed to dad. This is unfair, we don’t deserve it and sometimes feel that we have to be all and everything to everyone in the family.
Gone are the days where the man works and the good little house-wife stays at home doing the cooking, cleaning, and child-care. But sometimes the shadow of these past times still casts its unreasonable expectations on us and we are expected to be super career-woman and perfect mother all at the same time.
So it’s no wonder that there are huge challenges to balancing a career and motherhood, and in an ideal world we wouldn’t have to choose between the two but the financial reality of the modern world makes this unlikely for most of us.
Out of School Care
Unless we are lucky enough to get a job that perfectly fits with hours between school drop off and pick up then we will have to find some sort of out of school care for the little ones. Some jobs do exist with child-friendly hours but often we find that they are low-waged types such as retail or supermarket work, which there’s nothing wrong with, however, if you can you will want to earn as much as you can do.
The options for child-care are varied though and you can often find that some schools offer a before and after school club and these can even offer breakfast in some instances, which can be a real time-saver. You can also find nurseries and child-minders that can take numerous children at once and can even do pick-ups and drop-offs from the school in the morning and afternoon.
One option that works for some mums is that if you have several children is the option of using a nanny? This sounds like a very expensive option but if you split it between the several children it can work out cheaper per child and has the bonus of you not having to pick them up at the end of the day.
Giving Them Enough Time
Having enough time for children is always difficult when working as well. You always feel there are never enough hours in the day and finding time is tricky. One difficult thing is trying to make sure it is quality time as well, which is so hard when you are exhausted from all your other tasks.
But don’t be too hard on yourself as often just spending time together is quality enough. If you maybe save one weekend day to do something good all together and then have a quitter day on the other one.
What if You Can’t Work
So what if you have managed to navigate all of this and managed to get the perfect balance of time, money, childcare and schedules and then something happens that prevents you from working you don’t know what to do? What about money? The rent or mortgage? Well, you can look at what government benefits you are entitled to but the government program isn’t without issues.
You may need to consider alternative working arrangements, it’s difficult to get into work from a position of not having any work as you may have had to cancel your childcare and it’s sometimes difficult to get a place back. Many mums have found working self-employed can work as you can set your own hours and even work part-time if you like.
Convincing Others in the Office of Your Dedication
In some workplaces, the office culture is to be seen to be showing how hard you work, staying late in the office and it’s not possible for us working mums to do that. So you need to find ways to show your dedication in other ways, why not ask your boss if you can work from home to do that little extra? Also what if you have to work away from home? It’s difficult to pass up these opportunities.
Food Nutrition etc.
One final issue that you might find you struggle with and that is ensuring that the children east well, nutritionally and be in good health. With all your time-constraints it’s difficult to find time to make lunches and prepare good dinners. You can always batch cook at the weekend and have things ready to be simply heated up in the evenings. So these are 5 of the Biggest Challenges to Being a Working Mum.