Being a parent is never easy, especially when you have to provide for your family while balancing work and your personal life.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, most of us have shifted into a work from home set-up and children had to attend school through online classes at home. While some people see this as a blessing and an opportunity to spend more time with their family, a lot of working parents struggle in fulfilling both roles of being a stay-at-home parent and a working parent.
Are you a working mom who’s finding it difficult to balance her priorities during this time of crisis? You’re not alone! Check out these 5 common struggles of being a working parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Balancing homeschooling and work
With schools operating through online classes, parents have to share the responsibility of supervising their children at home during school hours. Many parents consider this as a struggle, especially when they’re dealing with young children. These said, with working hours and school hours happening at once, working mothers are finding it more and more difficult to balance their time between working and looking after their children’s school needs.
One solution moms can do is to help their children learn outside of class with educational games. Free online games for kids involve game-based learning that entertains and educates children at the same time!
2. Meeting work deadlines has become a struggle
For working parents, it has become a challenge to be productive and meet work deadlines while practicing healthy parenting at home. On top of that, they also have to carry out their responsibilities to their family in between working hours, leaving them with less time to efficiently meet deadlines at work. A simple work-life balance scheduling timesheet for the day will not work, as there are always unforeseen circumstances when it comes to raising a child. These said, working moms have to try really hard to make things work while trudging through unfamiliar waters everyday.
3. Extra burden of household chores
Due to social expectations, women are pushed to be responsible for housekeeping. And as women, mothers are expected to both work from home and to still do their duties around the house. With domestic help unlikely to be available during the pandemic, working mothers struggle more in maintaining their homes. Although they are supermoms, they cannot do everything at the same time. That is why mothers need responsible people who can help them around the house — to at least help lessen the stress and pressure in their everyday lives.
4. New moms have more responsibilities and challenges
Working mothers who happen to be new moms have more responsibilities and challenges to face during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caring for a newborn is difficult enough — but being an employee at the same time makes it more of a struggle. New mothers need more support, especially when their attention is divided between providing the best attention and care for their newborn, and fulfilling their roles efficiently in the workplace.
5. Less time to rest
The impact of Covid-19 has been especially harmful to working mothers. As they struggle to find balance between work and attending to their children’s needs, they have less time to rest. Caring for their children, watching over their newborn, doing household chores, while working from home has become a 24/7 job, leaving no boundaries between mothers’ personal and professional life.
With the COVID-19 pandemic shifting our lives to the new normal, it matters how we adapt to the current situation and try to make the best out of it. It is also important that we keep caring about one another more than ever, and keep giving each other support and kindness.
Need more mom tips and advice? Read more at old.momsformomsph.com!
Sources:
- Khan, J. (2021 May 17), Working from home: the struggles of working moms. Retrieved from: https://www.thedailystar.net/next-step/news/work-home-the-struggles-working-moms-2089721
- Chang, J ( 2020 July 27), Being a working mom is hard.The pandemic made it even harder. Retrieved fromhttps://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/07/27/working-moms-pandemic
