Parenting Tips for Working Moms

Here are a few tips that will make parenting for working moms easier:

• Spell out the rules: Setting down clear rules for acceptable behavior is essential. Ensure that you follow through consistently while executing these rules. This would mean that the children know there would be consequences for willful bad behavior. Make your rules age appropriate. Ensure various means of accountability so that your absence does not mean breaking rules. Clinical studies have shown that children who grow up in homes that have clearly defined, consistent disciplining patterns tend to have high self- esteem and less ambiguity about their roles.

• Do not compensate: Working parents, especially mothers, tend to blame themselves for not doing enough for their child because of their demanding working hours. Such parents may end up overcompensating by overlooking willful disobedience or demanding behavior. On the contrary, it is important to deal with your child's behavior with the same confidence that a stay-at-home parent does; because your work status does not change the fact that you are still the child's parent.

• Develop a strong social support system: it is necessary to develop a strong social support system in the form of immediate family members such as the grandparents and your siblings. This is especially so in times of crisis. Family members can provide excellent child care, plus imbibe family values in the child early on in life. It is through these social support networks that your child learns how to socialize, develop and maintain sustainable relationships, which may otherwise never ever develop in your child due to your constant absence at home.

• Be choosy about Childcare Centre: The child care centre you choose for your child largely determines the cognitive and social development in the child, which may be retained for the rest of the child's life. The child care centre that your child attends should be a stimulating environment that encourages the child's reading, writing, speaking and socializing abilities.

Remember that your child is an individual. There is no formula that can be used as a blanket solution for all working moms. However, where and how that child spends time is a key determinant in the early development of the child. Spend quality time with your child and ensure your child knows how much he/she means to you. At the end of the day, love and nurturing triumphs!