Outsourcing Mommy Tasks

As a working mom, being with your kid all the time is close to impossibility. I don't subscribe to the idea of work-life balance. Balancing the act, in my opinion, is overrated. You put in more time with your child, your work suffers and vice versa.

Telecommuting mommies or home-based professionals are not spared. I have a co-worker who works from home and yet she still has to put her children in day care so that she can work peacefully at home.

Another things is, how would you spend quality time or simply spend more time with your child if you work 10-12 hours a day? If you can afford a nanny, good for you. However, for those penny-pinching parents or for those who simply can't afford day care or nannies, leaving a child, more so an infant at home while you work away in the office is no joke. Coming up with a workable schedule is enervating.

What if you work at nights, a single parent and no night shift nanny nor day care would take your child in? Would you throw in the towel and say, "I quit!". Question is, quit what? Your job or being a parent?

In the Philippine society where families are regarded as close-knit, you may ask favors from parents or relatives to take care of your child while you're at work. For the lucky ones, they are heaven sent! Another option would be friends but be careful not to abuse your friends on asking such favors because they have their own business to take care of, as well.

The degree of difficulty (of the balancing act) varies on the child's age, too. Infants are toughest. Toddlers are next. Tweens are quite manageable because at their age they are able to fend for themselves. You just need to orient them on what to and not to do. I've been through the infant and toddler stages. Now, I'm currently mastering the tweens phase.

I had nannies or almost became my child's nanny who either backed out because they don't like the idea of taking care of a baby or quit because they find the job too taxing and laborious. In between nannies, I turn to my folks for help. The kids, as a result, had to moved from one school to another because of the impermanence of a nanny or a household help for that matter.

The one thing that I feel most guilty of is monitoring their studies. I was lax at some point and it backfired... to be continued.