Working Moms Series – Sarah from Digital Motherhood

Working Moms (and Dads!) have their own unique struggles.  Parenting is hard, time management is hard, and sometimes life itself is hard.  But we’re not alone!  I started this series to help us connect and foster a sense of community.

My guest today is Sarah from Digital Motherhood.  She also has a series on her blog: Interview with a Working Mum where she features other working parents.  I plan to answer her questions, so stay tuned to find out when I get featured!

Describe your home life – how old are your kids? Does your spouse work as well? Or are you a single parent?

I’m a mum of one – a little girl (“Little H”) who’s coming up for 6 years old. I’m married to Pete, who works full-time doing something clever with wifi (I won’t pretend to know what!). We live on the South coast of England, a place we absolutely love!

What do you do? Describe your working life.

I’m a Digital Marketing Manager for a property company.  My days involve web design, project management, email marketing, social media, and various other digital marketing tasks, as well as a fair bit of admin.

I also do freelance Social Media Management in my “spare time”. I was aiming to go 100% freelance, but I’m starting to change my mind again and think I might stay employed with a little bit of freelance on the side for extra cash.

And how many hours do you work in a week?

I work 31 hours over 5 days a week.  I’ve been there for 10 years, 5 before having my daughter and 5 since.

How soon did you return to work after having a child?  And is your work life the same now (same job, or role at that job?)

I went back to work when Little H was 8 months old, though initially I just went back 2 days per week. Before maternity leave I was a Web Projects Manager but when I returned I just worked on the IT Support desk as it was pretty low in responsibilities and there were other people to cover when I was off. I gradually increased my hours as she got older and I moved back to my old role of website management. Once Little H started school I didn’t have a reason not to be at work every day so went back 5 days per week but finishing early so that I can collect her from school. My role has developed over the years, the world of Digital Marketing is always changing and I take on new duties as and when the business needs them.

What do you do to treat yourself?  Do you have something in your routine that you do just for you?

My husband is fab and doesn’t mind if I take myself off shopping on a Saturday afternoon now and then – I think he actually likes to have some alone time with Little H! I think all mums need a bit of time on their own every so often. As well as that I like to laze on the sofa and watch a boxset, or read my book.

Touch on your most and least favourite things about being a working parent.

Most favourite are using my brain and doing something that is just for me. I worked hard at school and university so it’s important to me to not let that go to waste. One day Little H will be grown up and I don’t want to have to start from scratch again trying to forge a career in my 50s! I also like helping to earn money for us to go away and have nice days out.

My least favourite thing is all the rushing around. There’s just never enough time in the day to get things done and I always feel like something is neglected – usually the housework! I’m permanently shattered.

What are your goals going forward?

Personal goals are mainly that I’d like to progress my career as far as possible. Family goals are to go on lots of lovely holidays and spend as much time together as possible – kids grow fast and we want to make the most of it while we can.

Any tips to share for balance in your life?

I think it’s important to realise that you simply can’t do it all! If you’re working all day then you want to spend time with the kids in the evenings and weekends. If that means housework gets left then so be it. It’s also important to be able to share the chores and childcare with your partner if you both work, it can’t all be left to one person otherwise they will go crazy!

Sarah is a 30-something mum of one, living on the South Coast of England with her daughter and husband. A self-confessed geek, Sarah works in Digital Marketing and can usually be found on social media! Her other interests include days out, travel, reading and photography.  {Sarah also blogs at Digital Motherhood (digitalmotherhood.com).   Be sure to read more about her there!}

If you like this post and want to stay on top of my Working Mom series be sure to subscribe to my blog! 

If you’d like to be featured, email me at modernmom@jessicafoley.ca or visit my contact page for other ways to get in touch.

To read all the posts in this series click here for the complete list.

~Jess