All parents strive to provide their kids the best of everything. We try to give them all the possible lessons, possible activities, possible toys, and the list goes on. But all of these ”things” require money.
So, when parents go searching for a job or they stay in a job that they hate, they’re thinking of the bottom line. I’m taking home X number of dollars which will support my family and all the things that we want to do. And if it’s not enough and if an opportunity comes up, they may go to a different job because it pays more.
But what people don’t realize is that they should also look at the benefits. Yes, the medical, dental and vision types of benefits are tremendously helpful. But I’m talking more about the benefits that help you achieve work life balance. As a mother of 2 who works full time, I absolutely believe in work life balance….it’s what helps me stay healthy to ensure that I can take care of my family. And by looking at my company’s benefits, that’s why I opted to stay in a job that doesn’t pay as well compared to the same job at another company.
For example, my boss allows me to bring in one of my kids that attends a daycare nearby from 7am to 7:30am as my start time is 7, but the daycare down the street does not open until 7:30. This one small gesture allows me to start early rather than an hour later which also means I get off work early too. It also allows me some extra time with my one kid in the morning and she gets to see what I do. By working a 7am to 3pm schedule, I can pick up the one kid at daycare and then zip to my other kid’s school to pick her up. I’m home by 4:30pm to help my kids with any homework they may have, cook dinner and be finished dishes by 6:30pm. That leaves me a whole evening to be with family or catch the news or whatever the heck I want.
My company gives me 5 family days a year. That’s 5 days that I can take off for my kid’s appointments, or stay at home with her because she’s sick, to go to her school play, or anything related to my kid. Yes, 5 family days on top of my holidays and sick days.
These are small examples of policies and practices that make it easier to work and have a family. I get that not all companies will have such family friendly policies and that they may be hard to come by. I also get that sometimes it really is about how much you bring home (hey, I’ve had really tough times financially before so I get it). But if you do have a chance where money isn’t so much an issue and it’s more about making a good choice for yourself, really take a look into the family friendly policies at your potential new job. Your sanity and your family will thank you.
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