Is this realistic?

[Hoptoit]

I have 4 children under 5 and have worked part-time since having the first. I have just been offered a job as a key account manager with a multinational company. I will be home based, but obviously with travel to customers.

I would be really interested to hear from mothers in similar roles. Is it possible to successfully combine this type of role with having a young family? My children will be looked after by my mother and a part time nanny, but I don't want them to lose out!

I'm not in your situation from work point of you, but had 4 children under 5.5, so I know how busy it is and how much they depend on mum

having said that - you are used to combining work with childcare, so you are pretty organized by the sound of it and they are used to you having time apart from them.

I'd do it if I were you!
You are not abandoning them, but spending some time away from them to earn money to spend on them! good for you!

I presume there will be a few months of probation period to figure things out and smooth out details

we all miss out on things, life goes on, and if it really doesn't work out you can always stop/adjust your role..

go for it

Thank you for your message - it really helps to know that this doesn't look completely selfish from the outside! It isn't completely selfish; the salary increase will buy us a lot more freedom, and I guess the time I will spend away from home will counterbalance the time I will be at home but working, so I will still be there a lot of the time. I think I am just having a last minute wobble and worrying that I have misinterpreted the amount of time I will actually be away. But as you say, if it isn't what I expected I can always call it a day.

To be honest I am a pretty terrible stay at home mother and find that the days just ebb away, so in some ways I hope that this will bring more structure to out homelife. I just don't want my children to feel that they are secondary to my career.

If anyone is working in a similar role I would be interested to know how you find it fits around family life.

I would go for it , you sound like you have good childcare , which crucially in my opinion is home based , which means you can just come home and get on with spending time with your children. It's the pick up and drop offs and unexpected illness which is the killer I think.

I found working with three , although not as close in age as yours , was better at this age as the children pretty much just get on with it and don't know any different . Gets more difficult when they are too old for a nanny , have social lives that involve being ferried around , hobbies and long holidays where they object to sports camps etc

I think the secret is to get as senior as you can whilst they are young so that you can be more flexible when they are older and life gets more complicated, a lot of my contemporaries have found part time works very well with teenagers.

Thanks otla. I think there is always guilt associated with leaving children and i guess I have to come to terms with that. Good point about getting senior; in this job once the probationary period ends I will largely be in control of my own diary which will be great. Barring the time spent away, it is the perfect job, I just hope that my not being there a few nights every few weeks will not have too much on an impact on everyone's (including my husband's) wellbeing!

I once heard a teenage girl saying she wished her mum worked more and earned more to pay for flute lessons she said she knew her mum loved her anyway.. so there it is from the kids point of you!

I also have been told that if you feel guilty for leaving your kids so you can go to work/girl's night out/me time etc that just means you are a good mum!.

so just go for it!all the best