Practising, Penguins & Parenting: The juggle is real

Blog written by Leila Griffiths-Law MCIEEM

This is never truer than during the school summer holidays!  If you are trying to finish reports, keep on top of emails, plan site visits and allocate equipment, whilst keeping the house in a tolerable state and children off screens for several hours a day and remain sane, then this post could be for you.  Herewith a few ways to help ease the pressure.

I have been a fully qualified ecologist since 2002 and over the years have been really pleased to see significant improvements in the industry in terms of work flexibility and support for those with families.

My experience was not always easy though and also made complicated as I married a serving member of the armed forces and we moved house numerous times – which meant creative thinking was required. However, there were some interesting work opportunities, including recording plants in the Falkland Islands!

Pale maiden

Gentoo penguin

Challenges and adjustments

As a working parent to three lively children, there are still challenges, so I wanted to highlight some of these and also a few initiatives that have helped over the years:

Flexible working – Flexible contracts, part-time working, being able to work from home, term-time only contracts, use of laptops and smartphones are all really helpful to enable work to continue around the school run, cooking dinner, giving lifts and myriad other interruptions (see below). Employers are obliged to consider flexible working requests, though not necessarily to grant them and they usually need to be put in writing to HR. What can be tricky is that even when part-time, CIEEM Continuing Professional Development requirements remain the same as full-time, so it is important to make sure you can still fit in enough training and in reality this usually involves courses or local group meets on a weekend. Recorded webinars are also a useful resource for this.

Top tip – take children age 7 to 11 camping near a nature reserve and fit in some quick ID on a walk

Night surveys or early starts – bat surveys might not sound helpful but actually they can allow the load to be spread with daytime childcare and can generate TOIL to use when needed. Honest confession – my most optimal focus time is at 5 or 6 a.m.

Family support – this may not be available to everyone but if it is then it can be a really good option.

Parental leave – Many companies offer unpaid leave and the current statutory entitlement to parental leave of up to 18 weeks per child is helpful. What is less helpful is that you must work for an employer for over 12 months to qualify for this, although I understand the government may amend that. As it is unpaid, it may be tricky with the current cost of living also. Unpaid parental leave: Overview – GOV.UK

Annual leave – some companies allow you to buy extra days annual leave, which may help with the holidays. May need to be flexible or get dates in early if nearby colleagues have the same term dates!

King penguin

Longer term options

If it isn’t just the holidays which are tricky or you are soon to be returning from maternity leave, then the below may be worth considering:

CIEEM Membership Abeyance – If you are having a career break after having a baby then you can put your membership into abeyance (up to a maximum of 5 years) so you don’t have to pay the fees and if the duration is less than 3 years you can re-join with no additional interview. There is also a cheaper overseas rate for those who are travelling or abroad with a partner’s job. These and other discounts are outlined at: https://cieem.net/i-am/membership/a-flexible-membership/

Freelance work – If you are well organised and like the idea of building your own business, then going freelance may appeal. You need to have Professional Indemnity insurance and Public Liability insurance and be prepared that the amount of work can ebb and flow quite dramatically but if finances aren’t too tight then this can be a good option. You would need to do a tax return each year but can offset some expenses such as a laptop against this. HMRC provide advice to self-employed individuals.  It may mean you retain less control over the amount of travel though, than working for a larger company with staff located wider geographically and during leaner times companies may be reluctant to sub work out so the winter period could be quiet.

Despite some or all the above, there will still be days when you find yourself juggling emails, Teams calls, reports and messages from school, or a sudden onset of vomiting, which may cause you to tear your hair out. Do remember that you are not alone and with some patience and perseverance, you can still meet your career goals!

Top Tips:

• Put food out and get your older children to build their own lunches during the holidays and make sure they take turns in doing clean up
• Take a slightly longer lunch break and get them out for a walk

Remember that it gets easier!

Sad to say none of my children want to follow in my footsteps and work in ecology, but my youngest recently rescued an earthworm, so hopefully some of the sentiment is there.

My daughter, who is now 17 years old, tells people my job “is something to do with badgers”. In her early years she was carried in a sling and later taken out for walks with snacks so I could photograph plants.

Growing up in West Yorkshire and subsequently moving around the UK and overseas, Leila is an ecologist with a background in protected species and botany. During her career Leila has undertaken numerous UK Hab and NVC surveys, Badger survey and licenses, Hedgerows Regulations Assessments, Preliminary Ecological Appraisals, Habitats Regulations Assessments and Ecological Impacts Assessments. Leila is married with three children and now lives in Leicestershire. In her spare time she enjoys cooking and gardening.