Balancing Work, Your Child’s Education and Parenting

We are experiencing for the first time in living memory a time of unsafety. The difficulty of how to balance our lives is very real. As parents we are pulled in many directions at the same time. For many of us work is a time for us to recharge, getting the social interaction that may be limited when having children. Having a sense of accomplishment in our work is really important as well. Now that we are having to remain at home and work in the same location as our children it can be very stressful and difficult to feel like we are accomplishing anything. Many of the reasons that we go to work are now not relevant or attainable.

How do we balance our lives now? It is a challenge! Working out what your priorities/values are may help. Have a think about what the things you can let slide.

• Does the house need to be clean and tidy all the time?
• Are there tasks that your children can do that will assist the running of the household? Can they contribute more to cooking/cleaning/tidying/pet care, now that they have different requirements from school?
• Do all meals need to be thought out/nutritious/balanced?
• At times when you need to do work, work out a plan for what your child can do if they need assistance with their school work. Maybe they could have a break, play outside/do some physical activity, then come back to it when you have time to help.
• What do you do when you’re burnt out? Go outside, get fresh air, talk to someone.
• Could your daily routine be a little different to the usual school day routine? Have think about what flexibility can be implemented. Talk to your child’s classroom teacher about where times are flexible and any alternatives.

Here are some more readings and resources that explore this topic.  The final link was supplied by a member of our school community.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01059-4

https://parentsandcarersatwork.com/working-during-self-isolation-how-to-support-yourself-and-the-kids/

https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/topics/proven-tips-for-working-from-home/