You know I came across this article written by an American woman titled ” Finding it Hard to Juggle Kids and Life? Maybe Its time to call in a Family Strategist.”
She said her life has become busier with the husband, children and pets.And it becomes harder for her to manage her busy schedule on a yearly basis. The children to feed, the dogs to walk, qualitative time to spend with her husband, friends to see, babies to bath, work to complete , bills to pay, household to clean and the list goes on and on.
For me this brought to mind, the constant struggle women who are mothers, wives and professionals or business women or a petty trader face on a daily basis especially in busy cities like Lagos State.
We learnt that in the US more and more families are engaging the services of family strategists. The family strategists assist them on how to prioritise and manage their activities and also simplify their family lives.
These family strategists are experts with a qualified independent mind designed to help a woman take a breath and prioritse.
Talk about juggling all the balls, it is usually never really the case as most successful women would like us to believe. There is actually no such thing as a super woman as one aspect of a woman’s life suffers always.A lot of things in a woman’s life such as her happiness, her life’s dreams are sacrificed for a successful family life or a successful career.
Now imagine, you engage a family strategist to look into your time management, finances and other aspects of your life to create the much needed balance in your life. But again is this really necessary?
What happened to all those mini courses in management we studied. Emotional management, time management, personal effectiveness etc. What of all those people who teach or preach to us women on how to manage our activities in a day. Is that sufficient to assist in reducing the overwhelming activities of a woman? I could say most Nigerian women would rather engage the services of a maid or nanny to fill the gap and reduce the workload.
Is Nigeria and are Nigerian women ready and open minded enough to receive a new dimension to time management and life management? Perhaps, that is something we should all look into.
And if we feel engaging a family strategist is a total waste of time and money, then let us refresh our memories and list out all those things a woman is expected to do. Things her maid or nanny cannot really do for her.
1. She is expected to spend qualitative time with her husband. Obviously a wise woman who is determined to keep her marriage intact must make out time to spend with her husband else the marriage crumbles like a pack of cards.
2. She is expected to spend qualitative time with her children. Surely, a maid cannot raise your children. The maid do not have the same sociological background just like you. Her values and beliefs might be different from yours. Except you are that type of woman who does not really care about the principles, culture and values being instilled in your children.
3. A woman’s personal goals and objectives should be fulfilled. Also only a woman can achieve her personal goals and objectives and no one else.
4. Keeping the relationship. Keeping the relationship with friends and family members can only be accomplished by the woman and no one else. She definitely has to find time to do so. No one is an Island and a tree cannot make a forest.
And if we don’t mind hanging on for a couple of years taking it in our stride, moving with the tide and swimming with the ocean. Then we can stay with the sticky mess in the house, the overwhelming activities, the inability to instill values in our children and less time for the husband and ourselves rather than employ a family strategist or get help.
But if we do care, while the maid or nanny fills the gap, it is high time we look to engaging a family strategist or pick it up as a profession to help ourselves and other women in our shoes. It might look unattractive for now, but it is a futuristic profession in Nigeria that has the ability to earn you good money. Watch the trend as the modern Nigerian woman leans more to the developed countries way of living and habits. That’s just one more habit the Nigerian woman might pick up along the way.
In whispers “I hear the family strategist will drill down into your lifestyle and address topics ranging from money management, parenting tips, relationship advice and household organisations and even anger issues.”
I am certain when the family strategist is done, the home will be sane. I see this as a shortcut to learning how to manage family, personal and career lives as women through long years of trial and error and hard core experience from our mistakes. Mistakes are good though, but too many mistakes makes a life miserable. And if a woman is from a family background where she was not properly groomed for marriage, parenting, personal achievements and time management then she must really look into getting a family strategist.
Cheers!
Source: http://www.floramichaels.com/2016/11/03/to-nigerian-women-is-a-family-strategist-necessary/
