To celebrate International Women’s Day and their theme ‘Making it happen’ we have created a place where we share how mothers/parents are making it happen in their own way.
We kick start with Sian Kilgour, mother of two shares how she makes it happen and how every day can be very different!
As a part-time working mum, one of the challenges we face is often working ad hoc hours without childcare in place. An hour here, a late night there. As a result, we find ourselves getting creative in how to get the work done.
This week was a good example of that. With a presentation to finish and two tired and grumpy toddlers bashing my laptop (and each other), I was getting nowhere fast.
In desperation, I packed the boys and my laptop into the car, drove around until they both dropped off and then finished my work parked in a layby next to a disused electrical building. Not my most glamourous day at work but still, I got the job done in the end.
And it’s not just the logistics of part time childcare that make it challenging, it’s also the cost. As many working mums are forced to become self-employed to achieve flexibility, they don’t benefit from the current childcare vouchers scheme.
Hopefully this is all set to change from September 2015 however, with the introduction of a new Government scheme allowing working parents – including self-employed – to claim back a proportion of their childcare costs.