Hands up if your head is wrecked trying to get the work-life balance right.
Once you become a mum, it seems to get even harder. I am perpetually rushing, I inevitably have no time, AND I'm finding that getting any semblance of balance right is more difficult than ever. My life seems like one endless flap and is usually a result of trying to commit to both my job AND my children simultaneously.
Now imagine a world where educated and skilled mums had the chance to CHOOSE to work outside the home without eating into too much 'mum time.'
Barriers
Unfortunately, the lack of flexible work options once you become a mother in Ireland leave many of us with no choice but to be squeezed out of the workforce, not only out of choice but also of necessity.
Full-time childcare and an inflexibility within the business culture here in Ireland are massive barriers to successfully combining motherhood with professional life.
But finally, that could all now be about to change.
After the birth of his first child, Jim Warren realised the flexibility his wife Elaine was given in her workplace was not the norm. She was able to reduce her working commitments from five days to three days a week. Friends confided they would love to have such family friendly options. Jim realised they could be onto something and so set up
www.careersformums.ie. The website is aimed towards the enormous untapped market of highly skilled mothers who want to work but can't commit to full-time jobs.
"There are plenty of great companies that do provide mum friendly work arrangements, but there was no one resource to search for those companies. Careers for mums website can now make it easier for mums to transition back into the workplace in a secure and flexible way."
It's also an opportunity for employers to access an extremely talented resource pool of educated and ambitious mums which is being vastly under-used.
Jobs featured include a part-time customer care agent for a well-known insurance company in Dublin, a job share at a HR department in Limerick and a flexi-time opportunity for a sales representative in Sligo.
Change
Because this resource is a relatively new concept here, Jim says it will take them a while to grow the positions and evolve.
It will be interesting to see if the demand for websites such as this will be a wake-up call for companies to consider more family friendly options.
This could, in turn, help towards improving that elusive work-life balance we are all striving for.
Check out these mum-friendly options from the website and why not check out our 12 step ultimate (guilt-free) guide to being a working mum 
