Shannon enjoys the current stage that her bond with her son is at immensely. With no helper who can step in for her caregiving duties, more time is spent together with Jedaiah from walking him to school and putting him to bed. The owner of her own beauty business, Shannon has to juggle both work and mummy duties everyday. Preparing breakfast and getting Jedaiah ready for school is her first task of the day, then getting herself ready to meet the day’s first clients until the evening.
How do you manage work and parenting so far?
My mummy duties resume in the evening, and I’ve chosen to stop accepting evening appointments unless my clients are really unable to make it in the day. Those are rare cases, so most of the time I can spend time with my son. I sleep pretty late, so after Jedaiah goes to bed, the time then becomes my me time! Other than the few hours in the evening that I spend eating, playing or learning with Jedaiah, I’m with my clients. But of course, I do occasionally find time to meet my friends. For those meetings I’ll check if my parents are free to take over; so it’s pretty okay.
Has Aunty been able to help you out with this?
The babysitter I had was young and energetic which was great because not everyone can keep up with the energy level of a 4 year old. She was punctual and creative, and used different methods to engage Jeddy such as reading and pretend play. It’s really not easy to hold his attention for 5 hours and my son looked forward to the next sit, which was great news. Really gave me a peace of mind having the sitter as it meant my parents could take a break or do their own things.
The user experience was very straightforward and friendly as well. I could read up on reviews, chat with the sitter to set expectations before the actual sit. Deciding on which sitter is the best fit is much easier when you can speak with them and get to know them first.
What are the reasons you’ve chosen to actively engage Jedaiah?
I try not to let him have too much screen time in general, because I’ve found that he focuses much better with restricted access. He’s much less distracted in school and he has a longer attention span. Even if he does use mobile devices, I make sure that he only uses less stimulating apps on the enriching side. So, us getting a sitter helps to substitute digital devices with human interaction instead.