Whether one or both parents work, moms and dads can find it challenging to hold down jobs and also effectively parent their children. It can be difficult to make the decision for both parents to go to work, but in some cases it is the only option available, especially in these increasingly tough economic times. Although often having both parents working can help out a bit financially, there are other problems and difficulties that can rise up as you try to be a parent and a career person as well. There are challenges that arise, your child may go through stages where their behavior shows that they want more of your attention, so you have to find the right balance between working and parenting. Let’s take a look at these challenges, signs, and some tips that will help you to keep that connection with your children, even when you’re working hard.

Challenges of Working Parents

There are a variety of challenges that you’ll have to do with if you and your partner are both working and trying to raise your children. Let’s take a look at some of the most common challenges that working parents deal with. 

Challenge #1 - Finding the Right Childcare - If you have smaller children, one of the main challenges that working parents go through is finding the right childcare. You want to make sure that you find childcare for your children that is going to be safe and educational and this can be difficult. The financial aspect of the childcare can be stressful as well. Although older children go to school during the school year, you may even need childcare for them during the summer months. 

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Moving can be stressful on anyone. This is especially true for a family with kids. Whether you are picking up and moving across town or moving across the country, it can be a very stressful situation. However, there are a variety of different things you can do to the make the move less stressful on you and your family.

When moving, it is important that you realize how traumatic it can be on your kids. Your current home may be the only home they have ever known. To suddenly move to a strange house can be very hard. Chances are, they have developed a routine and are very comfortable with their current surroundings. Therefore, it is important you realize how hard it will be for them to become accustomed to a new home and new friends.

One of the first things you need to do is be honest with your child. Let them know as soon as possible that you are planning to move. This will give them time to prepare for the big move. If at all possible, involve them in the process as much as possible. Allow them to go along on the house hunt and give their opinion.

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How Working Parents Can Build and Keep Stong Family Bonds

Parenting is a tough job, and in today’s society being a parent is harder than ever. Most households with two parents, are looking at or also need two incomes. Both parents are working full time and nowadays, full time is rarely a 40 hour week. Many times working parents are putting in 60, 80 or more hours. If they are not at the office or job site working, they are traveling or bringing it home with them to finish up. Unfortunately, even working this hard sometimes, the ends barely meet when it comes paying the bills and other financial obligations.

As a result, children are often left in the care of schools, daycares, and after care programs. This leaves parents struggling to provide for their families both financially and emotionally. Being disconnected leads to a host of problems, and leads children to believe that they can not come and talk to you as their parent when they need assistance. There are a few things that as working parents you can do to help provide and maintain a connection with your children.

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So have your kids ever asked why does Mommy and Daddy go away all day? For many families having both mom and dad work is a neccesity. In these situations parenting can be a challenge. It is important to remember that just because we have children, it doesn’t mean we can work to earn a living any less than before the kids arrived. Today more and more households that have children are maintained by Mothers and Fathers that who both hold full time careers. It is inevitable to have to work full time in order to make a good living for you and your children, but how do you explain to them the reason why you are gone all day? How do you keep them from feeling that you don’t care enough to be at home all of the time?

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At about 46% in the U.S. , it is sometimes surprising that the divorce rate isn’t actually higher than it really is. Assuming it isn’t just inertia on the part of the 54%, it’s a tribute to the willingness of so many couples to work out their differences. This ability and willingness is a key factor in building strong family and keeping them together.

Fortunately, most parents will agree on one thing: the children should not be put in the middle of these conflicts. Avoiding that result requires skill, maturity, tact and compromise. It also requires that parents respect and backup each others decisions. When disagreement is inevitable try to work it out outside the ears of young children. However, seeing parents work out disagreements rationally and calmly can actually be a healthy thing.

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Confidence is a crucial part of our lives; as children and adults. Without it, we are left with a low self-esteem; feelings of unworthiness; and vulnerable to the pitfalls life sometimes doles out. Confident moms and dads = confident children and this, above all else, is the very foundation which will determine the future success or failure of your children. As parents you have an enormous impact on your child’s emotional developoment. Here are some tips on how you can increase your child’s confidence and self-esteem. Read More

I just read an article posted at KAIT K8 in Jonesburo, AR, about a shocking trend that is happening in Arkansas and across the U.S. More and more Grandparents are ending up raising their Grandchildren. In Arkansas alone it is estimated about 70,000 Grandparents are the primary caregivers of the grandchildren.

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by Karen Sibal

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by Jennifer Shakeel

I don’t believe that there is a parent in the world that doesn’t look at their child or children and hope that they are going to be good parents and hope that our children will have a better or easier life then we had where they are able to achieve more then we have. As moms and dad we know that life is not easy and that we are constantly faced with disappointments and limitations that can seem impossible to overcome. What we need to teach our children is to have hope. “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible,” as said by Christopher Reeve.

I believe that hope is something we are all born with and it is life and the people that surround us on a daily basis either nurture or destroy. As parents it is one of our responsibilities to teach our children how to keep that hope and us it to help them achieve whatever it is they want. Along with that though goes teaching our children determination and hoe to overcome obstacles and adversity.

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Get out and Vote: Election 2008 Tuesday November 4th 
by Kevin Heath

At More4kids we are not only business owners, but parents as well. Like many of our readers we have been hit very hard this last year and the last several years. With so many families struggling and in desperate need for help in this economy, this year is more important than ever to vote. As parents it is also important to remember that we also vote for our children, and their future.

Let’s try to cut through the rhetoric and the negative campaigning we have seen this year to get right to the issues. It’s important to understand where both candidates stand on the issues and feel confident in them to carry out their plans. Economy, Jobs and Health Care are in my opinion as a parent the most important issues this year.

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With winter just around the corner you can’t take your kids outside or to the park as often as you would like. We don’t want our kids sitting around the TV or playing computer games all day. Preschoolers and those just starting school have more energy than most parents. It’s just a natural fact. To help occupy them you may want to find games they can play indoors.

If you’re like most parents, you remember playing board games with your brothers and sisters, maybe even your parents. Back when I was a kid there were no computers. This was before nights where families played games together became known as “Family Fun Night” or “Family Game Night”. You may remember hours spent playing Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Boggle, or Sorry. Maybe your family had Operation for when you got older, then you most likely graduated to games like Monopoly, Scrabble, or Trivial Pursuit.

Those games are still around if you want to share them with your children, but you may also want to find newer games to play with them. Here are a few of the best games for preschoolers or those just beginning school that are recommended by experts and parents alike:

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With the slump in the economy, the housing crisis, and a market that continually is sliding in a downward motion, times are tight for families all over the country. Parents everywhere are finding that it is costing more and more to go grocery shopping each week and the budget is constantly tightening. For this reason, families are always on the lookout for a way that they can save money. Although shopping for the deals in your papers is definitely a great way to save, there are other ways to save that you may not have even thought of - using online promo and discount codes you can find and save everything from groceries, to clothing, or just about anything you can think of.

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by Jennifer Shakeel

Nothing can compare to the feeling of being a mom or a dad. The sheer joy of helping to guide a little person’s journey into becoming a well rounded successful adult. You want to be there for every part of it, not wanting to miss a single step, or sadness or celebration. Unfortunately we live in a world where many parents are separated from their children more then they would like to be. This is due to work, being overseas to protect our country and even divorce.

For four years my husband and I raised our two children together even though he was working in another city and state Monday through Friday. To this day I still remember the joy that would fill our children when he would come home Friday night and the tears that would start Sunday morning and last until they fell asleep Sunday night because their dad had to leave in the afternoon. The upward rise of emotions as the week would progress because they knew he would be home after dinner on Friday. While for us that ordeal stopped almost three years ago, what we did for our children is still evident today.

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