For many parents, the guilt and anxiety often overflows into all areas of their life.
Do they spend enough time with their children? Are their children suffering because the parents must work?
Do their children realize that the parents love them?
It may seem like unnecessary worries to some who don’t have children, but to working parents, these anxieties are very real. While children usually do not suffer long lasting effects of a home where both parents work, it will depend more on how these parents spend their time when they are not at work.
All the money and fame in the world won’t matter one bit to a child if they feel they are unloved or unwanted.
What Are Some of the Common Anxieties of Working Parents?
Depending on the household situation, these anxieties can certainly run the gambit. Parents want to provide a good, safe, and loving home to their children. Many parents think that working will provide all of this and more.
However, there are some parents that feel their children suffer significantly when both parents work. While this might be true in some cases, if the proper precautions are taken, these children can still grow up in a very normal and loving fashion.
Working parents may feel that they do not spend enough time with their children. This is one area where quality definitely outweighs quantity. If working parents only have a few moments a day with their children, they need to make sure it’s time well spent.
Other parents may constantly worry if their older children are left at home alone, especially if these children must also care for a younger sibling.
How to Alleviate Some of These Anxieties?
First and foremost, working parents must make sure their children are safe. If an older child is responsible for the care of a younger sibling until the parent returns home, then there should be certain rules that must be followed.
Make sure there is a list of phone numbers highly visible that may be called if a problem occurs. If there is a trusted neighbor or relative nearby, then speak with them to see if they are willing to check in on the children to see if they need anything.
If the older children are simply not responsible to stay out of trouble and keep the younger children safe, you must provide other accommodations for care.
As far as spending time with their children, working parents need to maximize this time accordingly. Children want to feel important and loved, as well as critical part of their parents’ lives.
Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. If you promise to attend a play or other event, do it. One of the worst things a working parent can do is to not follow through on one of these promises.
Help for Working Parents
Many schools offer aftercare programs for working parents. This can help relieve some of the anxiety by providing a great alternative to children staying home alone. Check with the local churches and clubs to see what is available in your area.
In Closing
Just because the parents are working does not mean the child must suffer. In today’s economy, it’s very common for both parents to work simply to make ends meet in the home.
Above all, make sure the children know they are loved. Spending even a few moments each day to ask how they are, what they did during the day, and to let them know they are loved will go a long way in creating a happy child.
