Strategies to assist multiple roles
Before having the baby, there are many roles you probably already have and the arrival of a new born is only one more to add onto the list.
It may be hard at first to juggle these multiple roles but there are many strategies that may be able to assist you in committing to these roles.
A parent may start off their day by going to work and end it with coming back home to their child however in between, may have meetings, job interviews, soccer training, going to the gym, volunteer work etc. This may leave them no choice but to reduce the time they have to spend with their child and force them to come up with strategies to assist them in managing these roles.
Some useful strategies include:
Pre-prepared meals
Committing to multiple things may leave you with no time to come home and cook for your family. By creating pre-prepared meals, your child can come home from school and will have dinner already prepared for them and ready to eat. This ensures that their need of having food is met and that they are not lacking in anything. This also saves you time for example, coming from home tired may sometimes not enable you to have the energy to cook. By having a pre-prepared meal, the only thing you may have to do is heat it up and it is ready for you to eat.
Having a chore roster
Between work, coaching, tutoring and picking up the kids from school, there may be little to no time left for cleaning and looking after the house. By creating a chore roster, you are able to ensure the house is tidy without cutting into any of your schedules. For example, your 5 year old daughter may be in charge of setting the table for dinner whilst your 15 year old son may be in charge of taking the bins out and dusting the house. Sharing the household duties around reduces the stress put onto you as a parent to ensure everything runs smoothly. However, sometimes children lack motivation and so you may have a system in place where one chore may equal to one dollar or half an hour of video games.
Child care
Sometimes, you may not have the luxury of having relatives who are available to baby sit whenever you need them to. Enrolling your child in child care not only assists them in learning, but also ensures that you are able to still commit to your multiple roles knowing your children are in safe hands. At times, child care may be expensive, but taking advantage of government benefits such as the Child Care Rebate can assist you in paying the bills for child care.
Combining activities
Between all the things you do, you may have no time for physical activity or bonding with your child. By combining activities together, such as bike riding with your child, not only are you gaining physical activity and ensuring your child stay healthy, but you are also bonding and contributing to building and maintaining a healthy relationship. Your child may feel left out and uncared for if you're constantly caught up in the things you do so by combining activities on a Sunday or after school, not only are you contributing to your wellbeing, but you are also satisfying your child's emotional wellbeing.
Sharing role allocation as appropriate
For many years in society, women have always been the ones who had to take care of the children at home whilst the men were out working. This meant that the woman would spend more time with her children than the man as he would constantly be out working. However, since then, many things have changed and sharing roles between the mother and father is an extremely helpful tool when it comes to managing multiple roles. For example, both parents may work however, their shifts may be at different time on different days. The father may work Monday to Wednesday whilst the mother works Thursday and Friday. Instead of the woman doing all the cleaning, washing, cooking and looking after the children every single day, they can both change roles in regards to for example, taking their child to soccer training. That way, none of them are taking days off work to meet the needs of their child and they are both able to spend time as a family.
It may be hard at first to juggle these multiple roles but there are many strategies that may be able to assist you in committing to these roles.
A parent may start off their day by going to work and end it with coming back home to their child however in between, may have meetings, job interviews, soccer training, going to the gym, volunteer work etc. This may leave them no choice but to reduce the time they have to spend with their child and force them to come up with strategies to assist them in managing these roles.
Some useful strategies include:
Pre-prepared meals
Committing to multiple things may leave you with no time to come home and cook for your family. By creating pre-prepared meals, your child can come home from school and will have dinner already prepared for them and ready to eat. This ensures that their need of having food is met and that they are not lacking in anything. This also saves you time for example, coming from home tired may sometimes not enable you to have the energy to cook. By having a pre-prepared meal, the only thing you may have to do is heat it up and it is ready for you to eat.
Having a chore roster
Between work, coaching, tutoring and picking up the kids from school, there may be little to no time left for cleaning and looking after the house. By creating a chore roster, you are able to ensure the house is tidy without cutting into any of your schedules. For example, your 5 year old daughter may be in charge of setting the table for dinner whilst your 15 year old son may be in charge of taking the bins out and dusting the house. Sharing the household duties around reduces the stress put onto you as a parent to ensure everything runs smoothly. However, sometimes children lack motivation and so you may have a system in place where one chore may equal to one dollar or half an hour of video games.
Child care
Sometimes, you may not have the luxury of having relatives who are available to baby sit whenever you need them to. Enrolling your child in child care not only assists them in learning, but also ensures that you are able to still commit to your multiple roles knowing your children are in safe hands. At times, child care may be expensive, but taking advantage of government benefits such as the Child Care Rebate can assist you in paying the bills for child care.
Combining activities
Between all the things you do, you may have no time for physical activity or bonding with your child. By combining activities together, such as bike riding with your child, not only are you gaining physical activity and ensuring your child stay healthy, but you are also bonding and contributing to building and maintaining a healthy relationship. Your child may feel left out and uncared for if you're constantly caught up in the things you do so by combining activities on a Sunday or after school, not only are you contributing to your wellbeing, but you are also satisfying your child's emotional wellbeing.
Sharing role allocation as appropriate
For many years in society, women have always been the ones who had to take care of the children at home whilst the men were out working. This meant that the woman would spend more time with her children than the man as he would constantly be out working. However, since then, many things have changed and sharing roles between the mother and father is an extremely helpful tool when it comes to managing multiple roles. For example, both parents may work however, their shifts may be at different time on different days. The father may work Monday to Wednesday whilst the mother works Thursday and Friday. Instead of the woman doing all the cleaning, washing, cooking and looking after the children every single day, they can both change roles in regards to for example, taking their child to soccer training. That way, none of them are taking days off work to meet the needs of their child and they are both able to spend time as a family.