Nowadays, it’s essential that both parents work in order to sustain a household. It is a way of growing, both personally and professionally. A family with two wage earners can be a positive influence on children. Everyone—both children and adults—will enjoy some of the benefits. Children will tend to see the world as a less threatening place, knowing that both their parents are succeeding in the workplace; girls, in particular, perceive themselves as having greater career options if they have a mother who works. Children also tend to feel proud that their parents have careers. Depending on their after-school child care setting, middle-years children also have greater exposure to other youngsters and new social experiences, which can contribute to their development. So, let’s find out how working parents can manage their day-to-day activities while being emotionally and physically invested in their children.

1. Prepare in advance

Avoid the morning madness of cooking food and sending children off to school before heading to work. Clean up the house and prepare and plan your breakfast. Keep everything you and your child need for the day ready the previous night so that there are no hassles in the morning. Mix this up by pulling your child in to help and make a productive family session out of it.

2. Plan meals ahead

Prepare the necessary ingredients in advance so that you or your child does not have to eat from outside and can enjoy delicious meals at home itself. Get children to join you in the kitchen and teach them some cooking so that they can sustain themselves on their own when you might be late to get back home from work.

3. Utilize the Internet

With more and more apps coming into the market, it’s easy for working parents to do their groceries online as well as pay bills on time. This, in turn, gives you more time to spend with your child rather than wait in a long queue outside the electricity board to pay your electricity bill. Also, take time off and text your child in order to know how they are doing. This lets the child know that you are there for them at all times.

4. Try to make work flexible

A lot of parents don’t take up jobs because of the lack of flexibility to run a family. Understand the company dynamics and see when it is feasible to take leave early so that you don’t miss your child’s football match or theater performance.

5. Chart out a Family Calendar

Charting out a calendar helps everyone in the family in remembering the special occasions that are supposed to be spent at home, in the company of your child and vice-versa. It is also an effective medium to chart out holidays and plan vacations.

6. Let Work stay at your Workplace

Try to finish off your work before you leave the office. Turn off work notifications when outside work and avoid doing work at family dinners. This also helps you have enough time to address your child’s concerns or revel in his/her joy over achieving something.

7. Make time for yourselves and your child

Spend some time with yourself, doing things you love. Focus on the quality of the time instead of the quantity. Go out for a walk with your child or do anything that will help you relax from all the work you have and spend some time with your child. Use this time to talk to the child about his/her problems and help them in dealing with them.

8. Forget Perfection

Parents have a need to be perfect so that their children grow up inculcating those values. So what if your home is a little messy? Perfection can’t be attained, especially when you are balancing your life between your profession and the household. Just focus on trying to get tasks done and done right on time. This is how you can teach your children to develop individuality for themselves too.

The functioning of society is constantly changing. Since women began entering the workforce in increasing numbers in the late 20th century, psychologists and child development experts have questioned the effects of working parents on a child’s overall development. Many families must rely on financial support from both parents, thus necessitating the dual-income family, but healthy social and emotional development depends on more than just the amount of time spent with children. After all, 24 hours in a day might seem too less at times.