Must Career Women Sacrifice Their Families ?

Are you a mother who is also a career-oriented woman?  If you are, you may have number of different issues tugging at your heart.  In today’s society, many mothers are fearful of putting their family first, especially in certain circumstances, in fear of losing their jobs.  With that in mind, there are many mothers who are fearful that their children will grow up hating them due to the amount of time they spent focused on work.

Being a mother and a career-woman at the same time, may seem like an impossible task. In the past, I used to think the same way too. Soon I realised that it is actually a very possible thing to do. 

I'm a mother of 2 year old - daughter, and at the same time I also have many other roles at work.
So how do I manage to have both? 

First thing that I do is to set your mindset correctly. For myself, I acknowledge my role as a mom, and I put that as my first priority. Having said that, that doesn't mean that you should just toss your workload to the side and not care.  There are a number of different ways that you can go about being a good parent, while still bringing home an income.  One of those ways involves spending quality time with your children when you are not working. 

For myself, I usually set aside my weekend for my daughter, or if I happened to finish my work early, I would then play with her at home, or bring her out.

Second thing that  I do is to create a schedule for yourself.  Just like you set a schedule for your appointments and meetings, you should also schedule when you want to spend time with them. This schedule can be used to outline any important events that you and your children have planned.

When my daughter first went to her new school, I took a time off for that 1 week to make sure that I was there to accompany her every morning. (Read my previous blog post: Alvernia's 1st day at pre-school)

I will also make sure that I attend some of her important events. One example was during last International Children's Day (1st October 2010), I was there to celebrate with her at her school.

We had fun creating cup-cakes together

Apart from those things, I also make sure I have time for her personal development. I read bedtime stories for her, teach her singing, watching Barney and Disney Channel together, and many others.

Another activity that you may want to think about doing with your children is taking them to the zoo. I love going to zoo.  Zoo trips are fun and exciting, as they often last all day.  What is nice about zoo trips is that they are fun and educational all at the same time.  (Read my previous blog post: One Day at Jurong Bird Park)

There are many other ways how you can spend time with your family. To be honest, it really doesn’t matter what you do.  To your child or children, how matter what their age, they will likely just appreciate the fact that you took some time away from work to have fun with them, no matter what the activity.

I'm not saying that it is very easy to juggle both career and family, because it is not. At the same time, it is not something that is impossible too. With a clear mind, and discipline, you can definitely accomplish both.

If I can do it, so can you!

Related posts:

1. Career vs Family ?
2. Singapore needs more women to step up
3. Women Extraordinaire – First Batch
4. Time No Enough ?