When I started my first business, North West Childcare, 22 years ago, the company’s first logo was, appropriately, a pair of juggling hands, as I felt that every parent was a juggler, especially me, as at the time, I had a two-year-old toddler and a three-month-old baby. Perhaps inevitably, it sometimes felt as if the more time that I spent on work, the less time I would have for them.
Every parent, working or otherwise, will tell you that they have felt, at one time or another, overwhelmed. We continually wish there were more hours in the day and more days in the week. There is always something to do and rarely enough time to get everything done, let alone have some “me time” to do something just for you or even just to put your feet up and take a well-earned rest.
This year, things got harder. School closures, restricted social lives, and the strains of a global pandemic have only put more strain on parents. The usual support networks are unavailable. Parents are going it alone. They are having to juggle work, childcare, as well as the physical and mental health of their family.
Efforts to minimise the spread of coronavirus have resulted in a complete collapse of childcare institutions outside the home, for a period which extends beyond annual leave entitlements. In addition, many grandparents have been automatically classed as ‘vulnerable,’ eliminating another vital source of childcare for working parents. This has left even more parents of young children having to manage their commitments to work and family.
Children are faced with a huge disruption in their life experience. Looking after them and responding responsibly to this crisis is important work, both to slow the spread of the virus and to ensure that children understand that they have not been abandoned in the chaos.
Access to affordable childcare will depend, largely, on the success of public health measures in limiting the spread of coronavirus. Hopefully, as we leave lockdown behind, working parents will soon have access to the help they previously relied on.
As we move forward, as more of us get vaccinated, as a world we previously took for granted starts to open again, we will all have learned a great deal about ourselves and our families from lockdown. This will be especially true of working parents, some of whom will be considering paying for childcare when they go back to work.
A year has passed since we first went into lockdown. Babies have become toddlers; toddlers have become schoolchildren; some newlyweds have even become parents. As families have changed and we face the imminent return to some sort of normalcy, why not reflect on precisely what you need? If you have young children, your needs will likely have clearly changed since you last had access to outside childcare.
Now is the time to thoroughly evaluate the needs of your family. Returning to normal will be difficult and many families will need help.
If you want to have a chat and talk through options that might be feasible for you and your family, please contact us at Harris Recruitment on tel: 0330 383 0010 or check out our website:- www.harrisrecruitment.co.uk
