Working parents struggle to manage their time between work and home. They often find it hard to balance their time fulfilling their obligations at work and with their children. Understandably, today’s economy demands both parents to earn money for the household. Gone are the days when husbands are expected to be the breadwinner and the wives to be responsible for taking care of responsibilities at home. Today, roles can be reversed. If not, both parents decide to earn money to ensure that they can finance their needs. That is especially true when they have kids to take care of.
This situation, however, makes it difficult for some parents to spend enough time with their kids. As a result, children grow up not knowing much about them. Some kids even grow distant and become close to their grandparents and other adults who are often around. If you want to avoid this scenario, you need to ensure that you start changing your habits at work and home. It means you need to ensure that your job nor your time at home will not be compromised. The key is to look for effective ways to prevent you from feeling overwhelmed with all your obligations and responsibilities.
Here are some recommendations that you can try:
Divide house chores rightly
Couples should learn how to divide tasks properly. If only one of you will do all house chores, you can’t expect to accomplish everything on time. Also, you will feel too exhausted to play with your kids or have some fun conversation with them. If both of you are too busy, you can consider hiring house cleaning service providers. This way, you no longer have to stress over cleaning the house. Instead of doing house chores when you get home or after work, you can focus on spending quality time with your kids.
Teach the kids to participate
Let your kids participate in simple tasks at home. For instance, let them handle some of the tasks whenever you are cooking a meal or doing the laundry. They can prepare the table or assist you in folding dry clothes.
Reduce screen time
Impose a strict rule about screen time. Whether it’s for playing games or watching videos, make sure that everyone doesn’t spend too much time on it. You should also make sure that you and your spouse follow the same rules. This way, your kids won’t find it unfair. Additionally, instead of screen time, think of other activities that you can do with your kids. You can play indoor games or start storytime. There are many options that you can choose from.
Request for flexible work hours
You can request for a flexible work schedule. Ask your employer if you can have a work-from-home setup. If not, find out if you can make your job output-based. This way, you can have more free time with your family.
Doing your financial obligations as a parent should become one of your priorities. However, you shouldn’t forget to fulfill your other commitments as a parent. Keep in mind that your children often need your presence, especially when they are still young. They need to have someone who can teach them about life. Their attitude and behavior will also be significantly influenced by observing adults around them. It would be best if you are the one they can look up to. Make sure that they feel your presence while they’re young. It’s better to provide them all the time you can give to them so that you will have no regrets in the future.
