There’s no denying that no matter how far we women have come, for some reason the majority of child care stress during working hours lands straight smack onto our shoulders. Case in point: Do you ever hear of “Daddy Wars” with stay at home dads versus working dads? Not quite to the same degree as the so called “Mommy Wars.” However, as times progress, people tend to as well and many fathers are stepping up to the plate to help share the heavy handed worry: who will take care of my child when I work?

In fact, some families have found a solution by both parents working flexible hours.

"One of the big challenges is to be on top of everyone's activities and commitments,” Darlene Lowen, Co-owner of a fair trade jewelry company, Jolica, shared. “This requires communication! It's all worth it though when you realize how fortunate you are as a parent to be able to be there for your children's big moments. We wouldn't trade that for anything." 



Loewen and her husband have teenagers now, but still need to find the time to ensure they are driven to their activities and sports, including both parents taking the opportunity to go watch them run cross-country or drive them to chess or programming competitions. By juggling travel schedules, the couple also makes sure one parent is always home with the children.



Carla Corbitt and her husband arrange their shifts to maximize time spent with the children. Working 4-10 hour days Tuesday through Friday from 7am - 5:30pm, her weekend 
is Saturday, Sunday and Monday while her husband works 5 -10 hour days with a varying schedule and his weekend is 
Thursday and  Friday. 

“Because we've be able to work out this schedule, we've been able to save on the cost of daycare,” she said. “It has been a sacrifice for our marriage as we are not able to spend as
much time as a family, but we take occasional 'family' days off together 
and we appreciate the time we spend together. We also eat dinner together 5 nights a week.”

Debra Cohen who works from home for Home Remedies of NY with a husband who has flexible hours as a high school teacher, enjoys the balance of shared responsibilities. 



“I take care of the early morning hours  – emptying dishwasher, getting 
kids off to school, making lunches, carpools – until about 3pm,” she stated. “When 
my husband is home, he takes care of afternoon carpools, sports
practices and homework help; I handle making dinner and he cleans. And we tag team on laundry!”



All three working mothers agree that having joint flexible schedules is great, but isn’t always perfect.



“While there are times when schedules get a bit crazy, we've managed to 
maintain an excellent work-family balance for ourselves and our
children,” Cohen said.



With over 10,000 flexible job openings in 50+ career fields on FlexJobs right now, it’s a balance within reach.