Parenting Tips for Busy Working Mothers

Mothers are always unsatisfied when it comes to their child’s nutrition, activities, studies, sleep and more. Working mothers are no less about this, they often bear guilt feeling (working mother’s guilt) as they manage more tasks and feel that everything they do is imperfect. First of all, let me tell you something, let go off the perfectionism and you are doing just fine.

This blog is for those professional or working women who do not want to compromise on their duty of nurturing their kids.

How to deal with your child’s homework when you are a working mother?

Working mothers can help their children with homework when they reach home after work or by giving commands by calling home at a particular time each day to inquire what homework are there that day. Parents can give kids some direction, for example, ask them to finish some sums in mathematics or read subjects and tell them to leave doubtful questions so that you can help once you reach home. Or tell them to study some portions and you will take a test after coming, so and so.

Here are some tips to guide children’s studies for busy working mothers

1. Know your kid’s teachers and their subjects. Attend all school events, such as parent-teacher meetings and open houses. Ask about their homework policies and how you should involve. Make a time table for home including their study time and play time. Elaborate study time with particular subjects, reading, homework time, etc. Set up a homework-friendly area. This may help to let them stay concentrated especially when there are younger children at home.

2. Establish a regular study time. Some kids like to learn in the afternoon, after a snack and play period; others may prefer to wait until dinner. Once when I was a stay-at-home mom I used to assign my child’s study time as afternoon because he didn’t like to take a nap and he was super bored at that time. So, first of all, I used to fill his tummy and then we would playfully move to his classwork followed by homework.

   But when I became a working mother, in the beginning, I really lost the track of his studies, but slowly I adjusted. We scheduled some time in the night. Just after reaching home I charge myself with some food and sit with him. You know, teaching children requires good patience, you will not be able to do it with a hungry stomach; also make sure kids are not grumpy.

3. Help them make a system. On huge homework days or when there’s a very massive task to tackle, cheer your child to break up the work into manageable parts. Create a work schedule for the night if needed and take time for a 15-minute break every hour, if likely. Keep distractions away from them. This means no TV, loud music or unwanted phone calls.

4. Encourage kids to do their work independently. They won’t learn themselves as long as you help more, so let them. Every year you must make some changes in your home-teaching style. Parents can make recommendations and help in certain difficult areas. But it’s a kid’s duty to do the learning or else you will make a dependent child.

Moving on to see the next section in which parents are more stressful.

How do working mothers take care of their child’s nutrition?

A child’s nutrition has to be taken good care of regardless of the parents whether or not they are working. It will be difficult if things are not sorted prior. There is a possibility of taking more junks unknowingly when parents become busy. To avoid that, on the weekends, make a whole week’s meal plan for your children, including their picky snacks.

Make a to-buy list from that meal plan and stock healthy food supplies. Fruits, veggies, and dairy should eliminate junk food; let them eat some junk only occasionally to avoid boredom. Make their after-school snacks a little heavy so that they won’t get unnecessary hunger alarms which will likely make them crave for sugary and unhealthy food items. For everyday cooking, keep veggies and non-veg cleaned and cut in the freezer so that in the morning you can make fresh meals quickly. Arrange their snacks in places accessible to them and allow proper time slots for main meals and snacks.

Teenage years are the most difficult phases to manage your children, and hence, working mothers should better make extra time for this phase.

Dealing with the emotional outbreaks and transitions of children

The transitional phases are difficult times. When kids enter in their teenage years, be it a girl or a boy, parents find it hard to manage. When it comes to working mothers, who have less time for home and for themselves, this dramatic stage becomes terrible. Teenagers behave differently at their transitional period due to their hormonal and bodily changes.

Firstly, mothers have to understand and expect this stage coming. You might notice children growing without respect to elders, they may not listen to you, and there are dangerous chances for them to have depression. Children at these ages may be attracted to anti-social behaviours. How can parents especially mothers deal with this? Let’s see.

1. Educate Yourself: Read books about teenagers. Learning the science behind their weird behaviour may give you some peace. Think back on your own teen years, and how your thoughts and experiences were. Await to see some mood changes and be prepared for more opposition as he or she matures as an individual. Parents who know what’s befalling can cope with it better.

2. Talk to them early: Beginning to talk about the emotional burden, menstruation or wet dreams after they’ve already begun is too late. Answer the new doubts kids have about bodies, such as the variations of a girl’s and a boy’s body and about childbirth at the right time. But don’t load them with detail information — just answer their questions. If you don’t know how to answer, ask someone who does, like a trusted friend or your paediatrician.

   You know your kids. It is better if parents can tell them than outsiders. And the earlier you open the lines of conversation, the better your possibilities of keeping them open not only throughout their teen years but also for the rest of their life. Present your child books on puberty written for kids. Share recollections of your own puberty period. There’s nothing like recognising that mom and dad also went through it, too, to put kids more at comfort.

3. Try to understand their perspective: Practice compassion by helping your child realise that it’s normal to be a bit concerned or self-conscious. Tell them it’s OK to feel grown-up one minute and a kid in the next minute. Every time you face an issue that is a part of this behavioural change, try to see and think things from their angle. This will solve a major issue.

4. Pick Your Battles: If teenagers want to change their appearance like some extra make-ups, weird dressing, it is ok to leave them for it. Save your criticism for things that really matter, like tobacco, drugs and alcohol, or lasting alterations to their form, etc.

5. Be watchful of the warning signs: Change is common throughout the teen years. But a too severe or long-lasting switch in character or action may signal real trouble. For example, extreme weight gain or loss, sleep problems, drastic changes in personality, a sudden change in friends, skipping school often, falling grades, talk or even jokes about suicide, signs of tobacco, alcohol, or drug use, et cetera. These kinds of improper behaviour that lasts for more than a month can be a sign of a bearing problem. Your doctor or a local counsellor, psychologist, or psychiatrist can assist you to get a decent counselling.

6. Grant them some privacy: Some parents may feel that anything their kids do should be known to them too. But to support your teen grow as a young adult, you’ll have to give some privacy. If you notice warning signs of trouble, then you can trespass your child’s privacy. But otherwise, it’s a good idea to keep a line.

   Your teenager’s bedroom, writings, e-mails, and the phone should be private. You also shouldn’t assume your teen to yield all thoughts or activities with you at all times. For the purpose of safety, you should always know where teens are going, when they’ll be coming back, what they’re doing, and with whom, but you shouldn’t require to know every detail. Tell your teen that you really trust him or her and let them know that they will break your heart if the trust is broken

7. Watch What Kids See and Read: We all are aware recently few online games had taken the lives of some teenagers. TV shows, magazines, books, the Internet, influence kids and give access to loads of notorious information too. Be conscious of what your kid watches and reads but do not annoy them because doing so will give an opposite impact.

8. Make Essential Rules and Reward them: Just like small kids and older adults, teenagers also require a good amount of sleep. This will make their body to adjust with their hormonal changes. So convince them to have sleep schedule.

   Reward your teen for being honest. Encourage a reasonable amount of family time together even in your busy schedule since this is the time when kids need more of parents time, but be flexible when you evade their time with friends. Don’t be offended when your growing child doesn’t always want to be with you. You might have behaved just like the same way with your parents also.

Some General Tips for Working Mothers to Balance Work and Home

For most of the working mothers, maintaining professional duties and home duties usually make them feel like holding two full-time responsibilities. There are so much to do and each one is as important as the other. Therefore, it is necessary for parents to organize a routine that will improve their lives a little better.

Using proper time management is one step to balance the effort of office and maternal duties a bit lighter. There are simple methods that parents can use to adequately manage time and by using them in daily life. It could feel like added hours in a day.

Life is unpredictable, particularly with kids. You may not be able to stop disorder altogether, but with this basic time-saving tips, you may learn how to maximize the time you have and make the most of those valuable moments with your children.

1. Evaluate your time – As I always say the first thing when you make new plans and routines is to asses the issue. Look closely how much time you have and how you used to spend your time. We all spend a lot of time with our smartphones and televisions. It may start as a minute of browsing, but in the end, we will notice that we have spent over an hour. We let our children also do the same if we have any other work to do. In short, the quality time spent together by parents and children are narrowing. So first you ought to asses your time, and eliminate the unwanted dirt from that!

2. Make Preferences – One solution to an organised life is identifying your most and least priority. For example, you may divide your list of things to do into many parts – those things that need to be taken care of quickly, those that can be done in the weekends, and those that are long-term. If you make a plan in this way you have less chance to miss any. And when it comes to a mother, her first preference is obviously her children.

It is also necessary to know when to say NO. Even if it is at work or among friends and family. If there is too much on the agenda it is OK to avoid further work. You should set goals that are feasible to achieve. When those aims are met, the feeling of achievement will help you to get the other chores done.

Use weekday mornings and evenings to make smaller tasks done at home. By doing so, weekend time can be spent with family for fun, rather than doing big volumes of laundry and hardcore cleaning. Making extra portions of dinner which can be used for next day can make some tired evenings easier. Make sure to keep saved dishes frozen. Plan and keep your child’s favourite and yet nutritious meals ready in pantry or freezer. But it is always better to give children fresh food.

3. Organize – Organization makes life simpler. Working mothers and children must have a good time management plan. Being well arranged is the key to making more time in a day. As I mentioned above, it is important to assess how time is currently being spent. Examine the current daily schedule to see where the time is being ineffectively gone. Later organize things accordingly.

Mothers are bound to remember a load of stuff related to kids like vaccinations and doctor check-ups, admissions, open houses, school phone numbers, extracurricular activities, sports, arts, there goes the endless list!

It’s quite a lot to keep them on track. As we are having more to remember it is apparent that we forget. Keeping a file cabinet and organizing important information is a great way to remember important tasks, dates and phone numbers.

Have separate folders for each child and other members of the family. A large calendar may seem crazy, but it is really helpful for everyone at home to notice upcoming things-to-do. In that calendar, everyone can post important dates and activities. This will help to organize the balance of time in home schedules and work schedules. This can also be done in phones or laptops, by using an online calendar that everyone in the family can access.

4. Assignment – Routines and responsibilities can be a family matter. It is OK to ask for assistance. Children appreciate including them in home chores. Assigning different jobs to different children not only teaches accountability but it also helps to make the tasks get completed quicker.

5. Ask for help – You don’t have to be a Supermom all the time doing everything yourself. Recruit a support system when you’re running short on time and clear-mindedness.

Working mothers still have a huge list of tasks to do. They look for ways to save some time somewhere, how about circumventing some time like to-and-fro travel to office and unwanted small talks at office, long break hours.

You can make it possible only if you have a good opportunity of work-from-home without compromise. Small children and teenagers equally require their parents’ attention. You can make this dream come true with Ayoti Technologies. Ayoti provides a professional platform to work from home at your comfortable timing. Make use of this opportunity. Take care!