By Jenna Sherman

While staying at home with your child is a worthy endeavor, forging a professional path while balancing parenthood is just as admirable. For parents who want to enhance their skills before heading into the workforce, higher education can offer guidance and boost your confidence. Consider these tips for navigating your education while raising kids.

1. Focus Your Studies Online

Freeing up time for your studies might be the most challenging part of balancing home and student life. Choosing an online degree program can make it easier to access your materials and coursework without commuting to a campus or dealing with other logistics. Attending classes online also means you can complete classwork on your own schedule.

Pursue an online master’s degree in education to prepare to become a teacher, or earn a master’s degree in business administration to launch your own company. You can achieve it all with an online program that’s custom-tailored to meet your needs.

2. Establish a Schedule

A solid routine can help you combat chaos at home while making time for your coursework. Sticking to a general schedule each day means you can maintain balance with your responsibilities.

Plus, children thrive on order and knowing what will come next. Practicing routines is excellent for kindergarten prep for your preschool child, too. For older kids who are returning to school after a break or school closure, restarting a routine is equally crucial, notes the Child Mind Institute.

3. Share with Your Children

Setting an example is one of the best ways to teach your child life lessons. When your little one sees you working hard and achieving your goals, they’ll witness the value of determination and dedication.

Strong role models are priceless for children of all ages – and you don’t need to be perfect to fit the part. Recognizing that life can be challenging yet immensely rewarding is a great lesson for children to learn.

4. Give Kids More Responsibility

When you’re a stay-at-home parent, it can feel like the entire home is your dominion. And that means handling everything from the laundry to meal prep, dishes to cleaning, and more. But no matter how old your children are (or how busy your partner is), delegating is a must.

Younger kids can tackle chores like putting dirty dishes in the sink, sorting laundry, and sweeping. Older kids may load and run the dishwasher, start the washing machine, and fold clothes. If your family balks at helping out, point out that children who help around the house are more successful as adults, according to experts.

5. Make Time for Yourself, Too

Sharing your goals and triumphs with your children is healthy and rewarding. But making time for yourself is also crucial, says Healthline. Stay-at-home parents tend to prioritize others’ needs above their own to begin with.

But now that you’re working toward academic milestones, your time may be less flexible and your responsibilities more demanding. Set aside time to unwind and relax accordingly.

6. Hack Your Home

There’s no foolproof way to save time, money, or stress. But by thinking ahead and strategizing specific tasks around the house, you can spend less time cleaning, cooking, and more.

For example, investing in a crockpot or pressure cooker could save you time in the kitchen. You can prep and set the crockpot in the morning, then forget about it until dinner time. A pressure cooker makes meals speedier, so hungry kids and parents don’t have time to complain.

Setting a cleaning schedule – say, organizing your home into zones and spending 20 minutes per day tidying each one – can also reduce the overwhelm when it comes to keeping the house reasonably clean. Invest in some organizers to make tidying up faster and easier.

Returning to school for higher education means making some changes to your stay-at-home lifestyle. But if you’re passionate about developing your skills to pursue a career, the time and energy will be worth it. All you need is a few smart ideas for managing your home and household while you go to school.

Photo via Pixabay

*Jenna Sherman is a welcomed guest writer for professionalmom.com. She hopes to help other parents acquire the skills they need to raise future leaders by providing a collection of valuable, up-to-date, authoritative resources. A mom of three (two girls and a boy) created parent-leaders.com as an avenue for parents who want to make sure their children grow up to be strong, independent, successful adults.

Dear Moms everywhere,

Who doesn’t want a quick and easy meal? I know I do!

One afternoon, shopping at SAMs, one of my faves, I spied a woman rolling toward the checkout with 7 rotisserie chickens. I couldn’t help but ask if there was a party, and she said, “No, I just get one for every night of the week.”

I thought, what a great idea! And recently, using one for supper “as is” and making chicken salad with the rest, I thought, AGAIN, what a great idea!

I just wanted to give you a quick post and relay some ideas about using this delectable bird.

First of all, “as is” in my opinion, when fresh off the cooker, is perfect, however, my husband and I rarely eat the whole thing when it’s fresh. More times than not (silly me) I let it sit in the fridge too long and end up throwing the leftovers away. I hate that!

So, here are some suggestions, for you and me when we have enough for more than one meal.

Chicken salad, enhance with mayo, celery, and boiled eggs, or just mayo (salt.)

Chicken tacos, enhanced with taco flavoring, cheese or cheese sauce, salsa, and guacamole, if preferred.

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Contributor Jenna Sherman has done it again! Thank you for helping Professional Mom offer insights and good solid advice for moms in their business adventure.

Photo: Pixabay

As a stay-at-home mom, your schedule is probably packed. Busy schedules often stop mothers from considering life as small business owners. However, if you’ve dreamt of becoming a “mompreneur,” this dream can come true.

You have the skills and the education necessary to make a difference in your field. Follow these three tips from Professional Mom to establish a business while juggling your home life.

1. Build a Strong Foundation

One of your first steps is to form your business. Choose between a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation and a cooperative. For the first four options, you need to register with your state. Different states have different filing fees and requirements that you should familiarize yourself with in advance.

Pick out and register a name that reflects your brand and aligns with your goods and services. According to the Small Business Administration, trademarking prevents other companies in the U.S. from using your business’s name.

In turn, trademark infringement can occur if you choose a business name too similar to a competitor’s name. To avoid unfair competition, do an internet search for your preferred company name. If you find no results, check the list of the fictitious or assumed business names at your county clerk’s office. For the names of existing corporations, contact the state filing office to find out how to search their database.

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By Jenna Sherman

Nearly every new or expecting mom grapples with trying to choose between being home with their little one and furthering their career. This is a highly personal choice, and though there are no wrong answers, it can feel pretty challenging to figure out what the right move is for you and your family. After all, there’s a lot to consider, from time commitment to the cost of childcare to long-term goals for both your family and professional lives.

Here at Professional Mom, we’re dedicated to helping families find the absolute best solution for their situation. It may surprise you to learn that running your own business from home could be the answer you’re looking for. This road allows you to have plenty of one-on-one time with your little one, as well as continue to contribute to both your household budget and career aspirations. However, it’s far from simple, and it isn’t a good fit for everyone. Here’s a look at what you need to know to figure out if this is the right path for you:

What Are Your Goals?

The first step is taking some time to honestly assess what your goals are. This should include goals for every aspect of your life related to this choice, from how much time you want to be able to spend with your little one, to where you want your career to be in ten years, to how much downtime you need to rest, recharge, and take good care of yourself. Some goals may contradict one another. This allows you to assess what can – and can’t – be compromised on.

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