Having It All: Jobs That Won’t Take You Away From Your Kids

As a mother, you’re often told about the impossibility of having it all, doing it all, balancing mum – life with being a badass working woman. The truth of the matter is there’s only a certain number of hours in the day and we can’t be in more than one place at once.

When we become a parent, our priorities in life shift immeasurably. When you hold that tiny baby, look into their perfect eyes, feel their fat, pink little hands squeeze your finger – the things that once mattered to you, the little things that used to get under your skin don’t seem to matter anymore. However, we all contain multitudes and, although having a child changes everything, it doesn’t change who you are as a person. You still have your own needs, interests, emotions, professional desires that need to be fulfilled.

Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat, however you choose to parent is perfectly fine. Whether you choose to be a stay at home parent and devote all your energy to raising your children or whether you choose to continue to devote yourself to professional pursuits and model that sort of intelligence and drive to your children, or whether you choose to straddle the line between the two – whichever option you choose is perfectly okay.

If there’s one thing we all know it’s that trying to live up to someone else’s idea of a perfect parent is amazingly counterproductive, as is shaming parents whose parenting styles don’t match up with yours. The only correct way to be a parent is to do whatever is right for your own children and your own family.

If what you think is best for your family is to have a job that leaves you financially and professionally fulfilled but that doesn’t take away from your children too often, then you might like to consider one of the following career options.

Real Estate Investment

When you of think real estate investor, what’s your first thought? Probably Donald Trump, the Monopoly Man, an old guy in a suit raking in cash from the top floor of an ivory tower. In reality, anyone from any walk of life can become a real estate investor. There are many reasons why you would want to invest in real estate. It offers you predictable cash flow, the properties appreciate in value over time, allow the investor to build up equity tax-deductible that can be leveraged. As a parent, it also allows you to spend the majority of your free time with your children. Depending on your tenants and how well you prepare, reading up on real estate trends and making sure you’re covered with Landlord’s Insurance, then you might find you’re only doing a couple of hours of ‘work’ a week and the rest of the time you can devote to focusing on yourself and your children.

Working From Home

In 2020, the way we work has been revolutionised, we’ve learnt how easy it is to transition to working from home. With teleconferencing apps such as Zoom, Google Teams and the like, we’re finding it more comfortable and easier to work from home. It’s likely that in the future, more and more jobs will make going into physical workplaces optional which will allow you the flexibility to be home from work when your kids get home from school. Being able to negotiate flexible working hours can be a godsend to busy parents trying to manage their working life and childcare arrangements. To read up on which jobs are best suited to working from home, check out this article from Upskilled.

Freelance Writer

Do you have a way with words? Have you always found it easy to express yourself in writing? Do you love reading? Do you get a thrill from communicating a clear message and helping people get to the point? Then you might find joy in becoming a freelance writer. If you studied an Arts, Communications, Marketing, or even Business, then you might find yourself instantly qualified to be a freelance writer. Working freelance means that you’ll be able to set your own hours and determine the pace with which you work. This means that you’ll be able to take the week off if your kids are going through a hard time or double your workload as your kids get older. Plus seeing your name in print and being able to nurture your children and your creativity at the same time, what could be better?

As parents, sometimes we feel like we’re on top of it all and other times we feel like we’re absolutely failing. The most important thing is that we’re able to keep ourselves and our children happy and fulfilled. It’s possible – it just might take a while! Be kind to yourself.