Many parents opt to have children while still working. Whether you decide to work full-time or part-time, off-site or on-site, you need to find a way to balance your career with your role as parent. Both responsibilities are consuming, but there is a way that you can successfully work and have children. Review the following steps for recommendations.
Edit Steps
- 1Get organized if you are a working parent. If you are working, taking care of children and taking care of your home, you will likely find that something will suffer. "To do" lists are a necessary organizational tool. Be realistic about what you need to do. Invest in parenting calendars that include school holiday and vacations notices, sections for "to do" lists, easy recipes and stickers for highlighting special events and appointments.
- 2Find support from those around you to ease the burden of working and parenting. If you cannot do it all on your own, then look for help from your friends and family members.
- Share the responsibilities at home. Sit down with your spouse and make a list of all the chores. Then assign names next to each chore. Your children should also be expected to help with chores. Assign age-appropriate chores to all your children. Young children can help by making their beds, cleaning their rooms, loading dishwashers, polishing and dusting furniture and feeding pets. Sharing the burden of chores frees up some time for you to spend with your children after work and on your days off.
- Carpool with trusted friends and family members. Offer to drive other kids to and from school in return for the same favor. This will give you a break and allow you the time to get errands or work done before spending time with the children.
- Buy some help by hiring a housekeeper. If it's not in your current budget but you feel that it's a need, you should relook at your finances. If you can pass the majority of your housekeeping responsibilities on, you will have more time to parent your children.
- 3Don't set yourself up to fail. If you have to simplify your personal life in order to enjoy it, then make that change. It may mean that you have to cut back on extra-curricular activities, events or projects around the home. You may want to do more school chaperoning as a way of spending more time with your children, but don't overbook yourself in other areas at work that are not crucial to your career. Relook at your schedule and modify it so that it is easier to bear.
- 4Take care of yourself. You cannot balance career and family if you are tired and unhealthy. Include an exercise regimen in your schedule, even if it means working out at home before or after work. Exercise and a healthy diet are very important for working parents.
- 5Know when your work day is over and when family time has begun. When you get home from work, redirect your focus toward your children and take advantage of that time.
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Article Info
Last edited:
September 29, 2011 by Byankno1
Categories:
Work World
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Español: Como trabajar y tener hijos
