Unfortunately, modern society and high cost of living often leave only one choice when it comes to work and family balance. As most families can’t afford to live on only one household income, women who have children need to juggle their career responsibilities with caring for their kids and spending quality time with them. A lot of mothers of young babies decide to place their little once in the professional child care (nurseries, daycare centers that accept infants, babysitters) to work full/part-time. Whether they do so voluntarily or out of necessity, but according to the recent survey, more than 57% of mothers who have children under 1 have a current job. Single moms have it even harder.
However, while ensuring financial stability and providing for the higher quality of life to their kids, working moms find it exceptionally difficult to reach an ideal balance between working and mothering. They feel a constant guilt for leaving their young kids for long periods of time, they worry about developing a decent bond with their little ones and desperately try to be there for their children whenever possible.
As a working mom, you’ll never feel like you pay enough attention to your kids. Some days you win, some days you fail. But, with a little bit of planning, family involvement and cutting yourself a bit of slack when it comes to routine household tasks, you’ll make everything work just fine. These are the tried-and-true tips on juggling family and career working moms like you might find helpful.
8 stress-free tips for working moms
1. Weekly planning is a thing for working moms
30 minutes of family planning on the weekend will help you sort out your week, divide chores, set time limits for work and find some space for quality time with your kids and your partner. Choose a consolidated planner, preferably a phone app, to manage your own and your kids’ schedules, doctor’s appointments and family activities effectively, as well as have all the timetables you need to stick to on you 24/7.Schedule flexibly
There’re certain things you can’t miss or be late to. But, if your schedule is too strict and packed together, it will collapse like a house of cards sooner or later. In order to meet the deadlines and bring your kids on time to everything, working moms need to be able to move some things back and forth.
3. Manage kids’ activities wisely
Dance, gymnastics, baseball, music lessons… That’s just too many drop offs and pickups, too many competitions and games, too much time in your overstretched schedule. One extracurricular activity per school year (per each child) will be just enough to develop your kids’ social skills and engage them in things they like without you going completely crazy.
Be extremely picky and careful about the classes you enroll your kids with. Try to manage them strategically by location not to drive all over the town. Ask your kids if they’d like to change their activities before the start of each school year so that they get to commit to different hobbies, but don’t turn your calendar into an overbooked mess.Cooperate with other working moms in your neighborhoods
It definitely takes a village to raise a child. So, go ahead and take advantage of ours. Talk to other mothers in your neighborhoods to discuss alternating school rides, activity pick-ups, etc. Help out when you can and ask for assistance when you need it.
5. Don’t question daycare or babysitting too much
As a parent, you’ll inevitably feel down when dropping your little ones off at daycare or leaving them at home with a babysitter. You’ll miss them all the time. That’s completely natural. But don’t be afraid that your kids won’t develop a strong bond and a loving relationship with you unless you choose to be a stay at home mother. Just choose a professional, loving nanny and make a conscious effort to spend quality one-on-one time with your kids after work. Express your interest to their hobbies, things they do while you’re at work, their news and disappointments.you have not found a trustworthy babysitter for your kids yet, make sure to leave a request on HireRush.com and our team will find a perfect match for you.
6. Teach responsibility from a young age
Your kids are totally capable of helping you out on a daily basis. Even such small things as hanging their coats on racks, folding their clothes and picking up their toys after they’re done playing with them will save you a lot of evening clean-up time, as well as teach discipline, independence, and responsibility. Don’t hesitate to ask your older kids to do more significant chores. They won’t mind the pocket money, and you won’t mind some household assistance and free time to relax.
7. Consider meal prepping
One of the struggles working moms know too well is providing their kids with healthy homemade meals and school lunches. Weekly grocery deliveries, meal prepping on weekends and a slow cooker will become your best friends in this matter. Pre-made school lunches for the week will save you a few minutes of sleep in the morning.Housework isn’t that important
Keeping your house fresh and clean is quite nice, but if you look at it from a different perspective, you’ll understand that doing your dishes or vacuuming your carpets is far less important than comforting your cranky baby, helping your child with homework or playing with your little one while you have free time. They grow up too fast. Clean dishes and organized closets won’t be remembered nearly as much as your love, attention and time spent together as a family.
