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Life is all about change, and to be happy and successful we need to be able to adapt and work with the situation we’re in. One thing that changes dramatically during most of our lives is the addition of children, and a growing family can mean everything else needs to change in order to adapt. If you’re expecting a baby or are planning on having children in the future, here are a few of the areas in your life that you’re probably going to need to switch up.
Bigger Home
A growing family will of course require more space, and depending on your current living situation you might need to either extend or move to a bigger home. As well as having more bedrooms, you will likely need more living space, a bigger kitchen, extra bathrooms and more outdoor space to host parties for loved ones and for kids and pets to run around. If your little starter home is feeling cramped, despite doing plenty of organising and decluttering then it’s a sign that something has to change. In some cases, home improvements like a single or double story extension, an attic or basement conversion might create enough extra space. If not, it will mean packing your bags and heading for pastures new.
Bigger Car
As well as a bigger home, more family members will mean a bigger car will be needed. Since children under age eleven will need a car or booster seat (depending on their age and height) you need a car that’s big enough to fit everyone in. You might even consider switching out your little hatchback for something more spacious, the new Vauxhall Grandland X SUV for example would give you more seats as well as much more boot space. When you’re getting things like prams, kids bikes and large grocery shops into your vehicle, it can make life much easier having a bigger vehicle.
Flexible Job
While care responsibilities tend to be much more shared between partners in the modern world, as women we’re the ones that carry, give birth to and in most cases become the primary caregiver to our child in early life. This does mean that we need to take a break from our careers or give up work for a while, and even once our babies are a little older it can be tricky balancing work and parenthood. If you want to be able to earn money and keep your skills in the workplace, one of the best things you can do is find a flexible job. This could mean returning to your old workplace part time, or it could be finding something you can do from home. Blogging and freelancing are both examples and are fantastic ways for parents to earn some extra money around caring for their children.
Improved Finances
Raising a family is expensive, and while you don’t need to be rich to give children a good life you do still need to be able to manage your money well. You could work on getting out of debt to free up spare money, or you could start saving. Either way, having stable finances is important when you have so much to pay out raising a family,
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