School Holiday Top Tips – The Working Parent

Mum guilt (or should I say, parent guilt). We all have it. We all hate it.

But it is part of life, therefore we must work out the best way forward to reduce this guilt as much as possible.

The summer holidays, in particular, can be a struggle – juggling work commitments and entertaining the children, especially young ones. Read our top tips below on how best to manage this:

Look ahead

We all know when the holidays are - it is like Christmas and yet somehow we tend to leave it to the last minute to organise our diaries. At the start of the academic year, sync your school calendar to your personal and business calendars.

Diary management

To ensure you can be the best parent and best business owner, organise holiday clubs, sleepovers, play dates – the list is endless. Then block out time in the early AM and late afternoon PM to work – this leaves the middle of the day to be with your family on those days where you don’t have anything pre-booked for the children – this is what works best for the mums on our team. But please do tell us what currently works for you? We’d love to know.

Communicate

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it has reminded us that we all have lives outside of the office. Why should you have to hide your family commitments from your work colleagues or clients. If they don’t understand this then perhaps it isn’t the best fit or the best dynamic. Explain to your children, that you need to work (if they’re old enough to understand) and you’ll be with them after. This also teaches them patience, a great skill to have! Finally, explain to your colleagues that any background noise they may hear during a call is your children, and this will take the pressure off you to not always appear to be “perfect”. And remind yourself, being a parent is the hardest but most rewarding job in the world. Period.

Ask for Help

We are never too old to ask for support and yet we don’t often take advantage of this. Liaise with friends and family and if this isn’t an option, then outsource to your VA or OBM at Interactive Media Services Ltd – people outsource their domestic duties so why not outsource for your business. You will see that it is money well spent!