Our raison d’être is to make it easier to be a working mum. That’s why we wanted to demystify the fabled work-life balance and see in black and white exactly what it takes to be a working mum today – whether you’re a jewellery designer in Birmingham, a teacher in York or in finance in London. From the merits of various childcare arrangements, to how much it actually costs (and how that differentiates up and down the country), we’re using this space to bring attention to one of the least talked about aspects of our lives – and crucially, how women make it work for them. You never know, you might just be inspired to change your own arrangement…
As told to Rebecca Cope
This edition sees us catching up with mother-of-one Laura, a 35-year-old jewellery designer based in Birmingham. Laura’s daughter is in nursery full-time, but she still sneaks in a little help from grandparents to cover pick-up one day a week. With her daughter starting school in September, the idea of switching things up and organising wrap-around care is intimidating.
“My husband and I both have our own businesses, so we are afforded a degree of flexibility there. It works best for us if I do drop off in the morning, and he does pick-up. Maybe I’m just more of a morning person. I tend to get dressed before drop off, but I’ll have a shower in the evening when it’s my daughter’s bath time to save time in the mornings. I won’t put make-up on until I get to work typically, and only really if I’ve got an external meeting.
“On Mondays, my mum collects my daughter early from nursery to spend some time with her – they typically go to a soft play and then back to her house for dinner. My mum also cooks us dinner on Mondays which is a massive help! She’s only 10 minutes away so it’s an ideal set-up for us and a great start to the week. All of our family live nearby, which is also a blessing. If we lived anywhere else, we’d get less help, and my daughter wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
“Nursery used to be £1,200 a month, but thanks to the 30 free hours over the age of 3, it’s now half of that. If my daughter is sick, my husband and I alternate depending on who is the least busy at work. Grandparents help too if they’re available, but usually our daughter wants us. We recently switched nurseries as I was concerned that she wasn’t getting enough one on one adult time, as her previous nursery was oversubscribed, and I’m happier with the set-up here.
“In an ideal world, I’d be able to have a Mary Poppins-esque nanny to collect my daughter earlier in the afternoon, having also cleaned the house, done the laundry and prepped the dinner, and I’d only need to work until 3.30pm. But that’s probably not going to happen…
“I’m not planning on having any other children due to worrying about how it would work with maternity leave as a small business owner. I had four months off with my first child, and then did shared parental leave with my husband between 4-10 months, before my daughter started nursery full time. My husband and I are both needed by our businesses now and he doesn’t think he could do shared parental leave again, so the burden would be placed on me and my work.
“School will demand a whole new childcare set up and I’ve got no idea how we will do it. Nursery has been year-round, so we’ve never had to think about the school holidays before – I’m dreading it!”