When you look back in life, and you were getting the nursery ready for your impending arrival, and then they came along, went to school, and now they’re grown up, you can feel like you are sort of redundant, like there is an end in sight for your parenting journey. And this can be quite depressing, because everything that you’ve made a habit of in your life is now being changed, forever. And while your children are on the horizon of moving out, this can mean that there is a new horizon for you. In one respect, this can be a new start because you’re able to do things that you weren’t able to do before, but also, if you’ve been a full-time parent, is now the opportunity to follow these dreams that you put on hold? Starting all over again in your career is a very intimidating prospect. After all, if you’ve been looking after your children for a long time, and now they don’t need you as much, you can feel like you have a lot of catching up to do with yourself. But take solace in the fact that so many people are changing careers halfway through their lives. What can you do to make a new start for yourself in this respect?
Start As Soon As Possible
You don’t need to leap into another career, but what you can do, before the children fly the nest, is get an idea of what you’d like to do. Some people are fed up of their parental duties by this point, and as such, they relish the opportunity to do something completely different. Others make the most of what they’ve learned as a parent, and it becomes a natural extension in terms of their career. So many people love the idea of nurturing others and helping them develop, and as such, this means they become carers or work with children, and these become really fulfilling career choices. On the other hand, these options can take a long time to realise. As such, you need to start thinking as soon as possible what you would like to do. That way, you can lay the foundations early on by getting the appropriate qualifications, but also it doesn’t become so much of a shock to the system. What you need to do is make the transition very smooth, so when your children are getting ready to leave, you can build up ready to start your new life.
Making The Most Of Your Skills
What we can forget as a parent is that we’ve developed a very solid set of skills. These skills can transfer logically into careers in care or looking after children, but they can also lend themselves to other careers, ones that you may not have thought of. Midwifery, counselling, or even teaching, are all options that make the most of your caring nature. In fact, school counselling is one of those areas that is a very subtle art of being a counsellor and providing a form of talking therapy, but it’s also important in the way that these counsellors become a safeguarder of these children. If this is an option that interests you, you can look to getting a school counseling online degree, and this can also transfer into other aspects of counselling. The great thing about counselling is that it makes a difference to somebody’s life, regardless of their age. And your natural caring abilities as a parent can mean that your energies may go unused. As such, using the skills you’ve learned over time can be very beneficial in other areas. And this is something that many parents underestimate because they have spent a long time learning the skills, and fine-tuning them to the best of our ability. Parenting is such a hard job. Those from the outside who don’t have children don’t give it the credit it deserves. And these days, as there is a big focus on life skills as being integral to an employee, this is where every parent can clean up!
Take Your Time
As your children grow up, you may look to find ways to fill your days, and as such, you may find yourself doing things that don’t really interest you. But while we can hang on in the hope that our children will need us at some point (they always do!), we still have our own lives to lead. And this is one of the big difficulties when we have spent so long looking after our children, that the day they don’t really need us can be very depressing. But, this is why you need to start thinking about making a new life for yourself. Your children will always need you, regardless of what they are doing now. But it’s always important to get into your head early on what you’d like to do, not just to fill the gap, but to be a better version of yourself. And this can take years, so take your time and think long and hard. Some people don’t need to change career, and some others need to start all over again. And while you find the prospect of starting all over again intimidating, perhaps even scary, this is the perfect opportunity for you to get a new lease of life. Even if you don’t have any other skills in life, there are so many courses you can take to give you a good idea of what might suit you.
When we become a parent, we can become consumed by this, which leaves a big hole in our lives when our children grow up. And throughout life, it’s important that we learn new skills, and new hobbies, rather than making the children the centre of our universe. They are the centre of our universe, but we still need something that’s for us. And when our children leave the coup, finding a career can be that new beginning. So even if you don’t have the appropriate skills, when your children grow up and start and their own journey in life, you can do something very similar.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.