Balancing Work and Family

As a single mother of two sons and one daughter I always seek a better place to work, to live, and search for ways to protect while at the same time strengthening my family. I have experienced work and family conflicts first-hand.When I lived in Georgetown, Guyana following a divorce; I dealt with the hardships and prejudices faced by working single moms. It was always tough, tending to the needs of my children and the demands of work as a K-12 classroom teacher and attending the University of Guyana for my Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.)  trying to balance it all. As a single mom I play the roles of both a mother as well as a father. This is the most difficult aspect of balancing my work and family apart from the financial challenges. I pamper my children as a mother and also scold them like a father when they go wrong.

After my baby sitter moved from my neighborhood and my dissatisfaction with existing child-care facilities; I asked my Principal at the Public School Department of Education where I worked if I could bring my infant daughter to work. I was rejected it was hard for me to argue with her because not every Guyanese single parent has understanding employers that were flexible.

I became a master in the art of multitasking; my share of daily struggles and long-term disadvantages the issues of expensive day care, shortage of quality time with my children, balance of work and home duties. My economic struggles were among the seemingly endless problems I had to solve.

My economic burden was not great; because the fact that I did not earn enough income my offshoot of this economic struggle was the balance of work and family duties. I often work overtime shifts and a second job to compensate for my low salary, thus taking time away from my children and other domestic chores. This resulted in placing my children in daycare service for up to 8-10 hours per day I paid large fees for this service.

The task of me balancing work and family as a single mom is not a joke. It was very difficult for me with such great tasks and I never tried to unleash my frustration on my children. I always take good care of my finances because the last thing I needed was a financial crisis.