On finding help and support as a working parent

Workparent Weekly

June 11, 2021 

Happy Friday.  Here’s a new idea, a practical tool, and some inspiration to make working parenthood easier and better in the weeks ahead….

A new idea:

“It’s not about ‘leaning in.’  You’ve always worked extraordinarily hard and continue to today.  What you need now are the skills and supports that will help you ‘lean in’ without falling over.  Lean on – not in.”

A tool for finding that help and support as we enter the “new normal”:

To find more of the personal support you need (and deserve) as a working parent, think through your 8C’s: the eight different categories, or sources, of assistance that make managing career, self, and kids more feasible: 

  • career support from a boss, manager, or mentor; 

  • advice from and connection with working-parent colleagues; 

  • corporate or organizational programs and benefits; 

  • any care, whether paid or unpaid, you can get for your child; 

  • computer or IT hacks that save you time and headspace; 

  • clinical/health resources that keep the whole family well and whole; 

  • your couple/co-parenting partnership, as relevant, and 

  • community help, from friends, extended family, a faith group, or neighbors.  

Think through each category. Go broad and get creative. Can a relative Zoom in to help your son prep for his end-of-year exams?  Have you signed up for the backup care program at work?  Can the nurse practitioner at your pediatrician’s office advise you on how to get the baby onto a better sleeping schedule - or a mentor at work help you make the case for more flexibility? Small bits of help add up into big impact. 

…and some inspiration

Imagine that it’s 10 years from now: you’re working and parenting happily, confidently – and in the way you want.  What tools, connections, habits, family routines, and ways of working can you put in place now to help you get there?

For more help combining career and family: check out my complete guidebook to working parenthood, or my past how-to articles, here.  

 

If you found this email helpful, please forward it to a fellow working parent or post to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

 

Workparent: Solutions and dignity for all working parents – and no judgments, ever.   

Daisy Dowling