Between the demands of work and home, you might feel like you’re burning the candle at both ends. But as a working mother, there is no greater role model for your child than you. In fact, you’re probably giving your kid great life lessons perhaps without even realizing it. Here’s what your child is learning—about life, working and balancing it all—from you.
Why work is important. Maybe you always wanted to be a botanist. Or a veterinary technician. Everyone has a passion that they would like to pursue. Work allows you to explore another side of your personality—your purpose, if you will—that is your contribution to society utilizing your skills and talents. When you’re doing work that you love, it can give your day added purpose—and happiness. You’re showing your child that work matters.
Why you need to work. In today’s economy, most households consist of two working parents. Sadly, the chances of that changing as your child gets older are pretty slim. So when your child asks for a new pair of Ugg’s, she will now realize that someone (i.e. you or your spouse) need to work in order to afford those boots. (After all, there is no such thing as the Boot Fairy!) Working gives you the monetary flexibility to pay all your bills on time, splurge when you can, and be a responsible adult.
How to pursue your passion. In generations past, fathers left the home at 7:30 AM only to mysteriously—and miserably—return at 6:00 PM. Therefore, many children grew up with a preconceived notion that work was boring, joyless and something adults were forced to do. Today, parents share the bad as well as the great moments in their workday, such as when your boss commended you on that great idea you brought up during your weekly staff Skype meeting. By watching you work in an area that interests you, your child is learning that work equals something fun and fulfilling. You are also opening your child’s eyes to see that if you work hard enough, you can turn any idea into a successful career.
How you try to balance it all. Sure, working from home affords you the ability to throw a load of laundry into the washing machine while you finish up working on a project. But just because you can do a little more multitasking when you work remotely doesn’t always make things easier—or that you have less to do. In fact, it’s usually the opposite. Since you’re home, you might fall into the trap of trying to do it all. You might try to attend every one of your child’s football games because, after all, you work from home. But as such, you might miss an important deadline because you’re trying to do too much. So it’s important to let your child see that while working from home definitely has a lot of advantages (such as letting you work a flexible schedule and eliminating a daily commute into work), you are human, you might make mistakes sometimes, and that’s all right.
And that’s the biggest lesson of all.
