I Wrote a Parent Job Description

Formalizing my responsibilities made me feel pretty accomplished

During the pandeminc, I spent more time at home than I ever had since I started my professional career. The pandemic and a supportive husband meant that I could see what it was like to be a literal stay-at-home mom. When we returned to life as normal, I was frequently asked: “What have you been working on?” This question flustered me. Somehow, I feel that I’d been quite busy, yet I had very little to show in terms of work output.

Turns out, like most parents (moms in particular), all the stuff that we do doesn’t seem to count when it comes to the “hustle” culture of career climbing, business starting, Instagram influencing, etc. To use business terminology, it was “table stakes”, you were expected to manage parenting on top of your day job.

So, I thought I’d give myself a little perspective on the demanding role of a Type A modern parent. I formalized it by writing myself a job description.

PARENT JOB DESCRIPTION

The ideal candidate is a dedicated individual devoted to pursuing the goal of raising a happy, well adjusted, society-contributing adult.

Areas of Responsibility

· Facilities management — cleaning, laundry and overall maintenance, organization and capacity utilization

· Process Management — build and implement all routines including school runs, bedtime, mealtime, homework

· Logistics and Transportation — arrange and execute all trips to and from everywhere

· Personal Assisting — set calendar, manage appointments and conflicts, submit expenses, office support (printing, scanning, copying, shipping)

· Social Coordination and Event Planning — organize play dates, birthdays, holidays and all other types of celebrations

· Food & Beverage — planning and execution of all meals

· Nutrition — devise healthy eating plan while accounting for allergies and aversions

· Talent Development — extra-curricular activity planning and coordination

· Continuing Education — online and supplemental learning outside of school

· Admissions Consulting — not limited to: Pre-K, private schools, college, summer camp, competitive sports programs

· Buying and Planning — personal care, apparel, accessories, toys and electronics departments

· Internal and External Communications — within family and with school and other affiliates

· Information Technology — audio/visual, portable devices, computer hardware, software installation and subscriptions

· Healthcare Administrator and On-call Nurse — source all providers, manage insurance claims, provide care at all times as needed

· Librarian — maintain books and other media collections

· Pro-Bono and Foundation Executive — may include school PAs, coaching teams, community volunteering and donations of goods and services

· Styling and Esthetics — choose and procure situation-appropriate outfits including formal events, photo shoots and off-duty style

· Content Creation and Archiving — document milestones and create filing system for all content

· Interior Design — source and install all furniture, textiles and storage/organization systems. Update every 2–3 years

· Personal branding — support child’s skills profile to develop strengths and opportunities such as: artist, academic, athlete, vegan, musician, etc.

· Counseling and social work — manage mental, emotional and social health of the child

*Some tasks may be outsourced based on the situation. If choosing to expand the team, add human resource management to list of responsibilities.

Skills and abilities

· Must be self-motivated and able to operate autonomously without oversight and clear feedback

· Creative, flexible, detailed-oriented, agile and analytical

· Ability to network online and offline

· Strong management track record, must lead by example and remain calm in stressful situations

· Must be well versed in all social media and online learning platforms

· Must be able to diagnose any medical symptom via the Internet or peer connections

Prior experience a plus. No on-the-job training provided. Foreign language skills encouraged.

Daily requirements

· Long hours

· May be full or part-time, but all responsibilities apply in both situations

· Heavy lifting and physical activity required in years 1–10

· Late nights from ages 0–5 and again from 14–21

Compensation and Benefits

· Compensation “in kind” only

· Time-off extremely limited (especially during a pandemic)

· Long-term contract with no opt-out until year 18.

As parents, we manage an incredible amount of complexity on a daily, monthly and annual basis. It’s a job that is constantly evolving, just when you feel like you’re on top of it, they change. There is no inertia or status quo in parenting. So, let’s take a moment to recognize that we parents are operating at high levels; every day is a step towards achieving our objective.

And for me, I hope that my retirement will evolve to a Board Position. In that role, I’m no longer in charge of the day-to-day activities, but my grown children will seek my advice and company on a regular basis.

I can think of no better reward for a job well done.