3 Tips for Caring For Your Children While Caring For Your Career
While many people still feel like women can’t have a successful and fulfilling career while simultaneously taking care of their own children and giving them the lives they deserve, the fact of the matter is that this type of life is entirely attainable. And although it may take more planning and active management than you might think you have time for to be a working mom, if you have the dedication and determination to have it all in your life, the only thing stopping you is you. So to show you how you can have a great home and work life as a mother, here are three tips for caring for your children while caring for your career.
Work As Hard As You Can When You Can
If you don’t yet have children but expect to in the future, the best thing you can do for both your career and your future family in the present is to work as hard as you can now in preparation for the future. Christa Carone, a contributor to Forbes.com, shares that if you can prove yourself as a great employee by working as hard as you can when you can, you’ll develop for yourself a relationship with your employer that could give you a lot more freedom and flexibility when you need it as a parent. By showing your company that you have what it takes to do the work, they’ll be much more likely to work with you on creating a good balance in your life in order to keep you around the company.
Know How To Find Your Own Balance
Creating a work-life balance is important, but it’s not the same for every women. It takes different amounts of care and effort in each area of your life to feel that you’re fulfilled as a whole. For this reason, it’s important that you discover what you need to be contributing in each realm of your life to feel that you’re in balance. Is it important for you to be there for the birthday parties your kids have with their friends or to spend some individual time with each child once a month? Lauren Lake, a contributor to SheKnows.com, shares that when she begins to feel that her balance is slipping, she maintains control by ensuring she spends at least one meal a day sitting down with her family. Find what works for you and make that your priority in creating your own work-life balance.
Embrace A Village Mentality
Despite how hard you may try, you simply can’t be in two places at once. So although you may want to be the one taking your kids to school each morning and picking them up from practice in the evenings, it may be impractical to do this on nights when you have a late meeting. This is when you’re going to want to have a village behind you to help pick up the slack. Laura Vanderkam, a contributor to Fortune, recommends finding people in your community that you can trust, be it friends or family, and relying on their helping hands when you’re in need of assistance without feeling guilty or less-than.
With the right attitude and a little creativity, you can be the career women you want to be and the mother you want to be. Use the tips mentioned above to help be a successful working mom.
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