I always assumed I’d be a stay-at-home mom. That is — until our first child was born. Although I loved being a mom, I missed my work — and we needed the paycheck. So, back to work I went.
We had an amazing caregiver arranged for the baby. But leaving her that first day was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I worried: Was I being selfish? Would the baby be OK? Was I making a mistake?
I looked up the research, and found that children placed in quality child care develop just fine. All things being equal, children of working parents turn out to be happy, healthy and well-adjusted. It’s the parents who are stressed-out, exhausted and feeling guilty about — well, everything.
It helped me to learn that kids don’t need perfection — just Good Enough. Once upon a time, I thought it was possible to be a Perfect Parent. One doctorate and four kids later, I’m here to tell you that Perfect Ain’t Possible — and it’s not good for your kids either. Once you’ve ditched the guilt, you can focus on creating a work/life balance that works for you.
My Top-10 Parenting Tips for Work/Life Balance:
If you stay focused on the important stuff, your work/life balancing act will be a lot easier. No guilt required!
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A licensed child psychologist, Dr. Heather provides valuable, and always humorous, insights on our blog.