Friends and acquaintances will also be over the moon and will all look forward to the big day with much anticipation.

As your feelings of happiness know no bounds, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the World would be happy for you as well and while this is largely the case, certain elements of negativity may, however, still arise.

Surely, your boss is happy for you, but he or she may not be on quite the same level as everyone else and be particularly concerned with the operation of the business. You may soon come to realise that the business is classified squarely in first position in the eyes of your boss and if you want to consider flexible working hours as you go forward, you are going to have to be really persuasive.

If your boss is something of a dinosaur when it comes to flexibility in these situations, then you will have to be creative if not very persuasive.

Seek out a co-worker or friend who has been in the position that you are in now and sit down to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her, to see how the two-way communication with her boss was initiated and how the situation panned out. Now is the time to do a lot of research and to find what solutions could be available to you, according to other friends or acquaintances in other professions or industries.

Your creativity may well unveil to you the idea of working from home or telecommuting, especially if you are forward thinking. As companies around the World realise that they need to save on their overheads, this concept is becoming more and more acceptable. If the kind of work you do supports this, all the better.

Don’t forget, that you must work out what would be the ideal situation for you, first and foremost. In other words, be careful what you wish for!

At the top of your list should be an ideal scenario, but you should also have options available in a less-than-perfect situation. Look at your home commitments first before asking for something you might not be able to accommodate.

You should always be careful when you are discussing options with colleagues and you might have to exercise some strategy. If you all collectively share a workload, see how you could come up with ideas to divide the work accordingly, giving you a more flexible schedule. You must be more than willing to pull your weight, of course, and before you consider approaching others or your boss with the idea, be fully confident that it will be a win/win/win position for everybody.

If your job essentially allows you to complete certain tasks regardless of time, or what used to be known as a “job and finish” situation, determine whether you would be able to do this during your personal time as part of a newly revised schedule.

If you look at your boss as a dinosaur, maybe you can cause him or her to stop chewing the vegetation for a moment and realise that you can be equally as productive, if not more so, by working this more flexible schedule.

Contemplate online life coaching as a valuable source of research. Thankfully, coaching for women can always help by looking at a variety of situations and suggesting options. This is far from being the private domain of executives or sports players and you should turn to professional coaching, as well!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Some of these momentous changes can make a big difference to a happy marriage. Tactful tweaks and adjustments will be needed by both partners in the relationship to smooth the path, and not only for new parents. Maintaining a happy and successful relationship when kids come into the equation really does require us to constantly work at our relationship with our other half.

Have a look at everything from a big perspective, especially if you begin to doubt what is happening, start to worry or even become mad. Do you feel that you cannot properly see the problem due to life’s complexity? So much is going on that it is easy for parents to become overwhelmed and not know how to cope. Sometimes this leads to the need for additional jobs and causes parents to become complex role players. This can often be a tricky transition and can lead to each person spending more time focusing on their new “position” than on their opposite partner. In the case of new parents, the mum may put so much effort and attention into caring for the new arrival, that the marriage may not seem so important a priority any more.

When mum is so absorbed with the new arrival, dad can feel as if he is completely surplus. A husband may “assume” that his wife needs overall responsibility and is the best person to look after the kids. Subconsciously or otherwise, this may result in him backing away from the relationship as a whole, even though he thinks it is the right thing.

Both parties need to watch each other and look for tell-tale signs. Look for signs of overload, irritability or a short temper. Don’t dismiss any negative vibes such as this, as if left to fester small problems tend to grow large, ugly and hard to crack.

It is always best to sit down when the kids are asleep or in school and have a heart-to-heart conversation with each other. Quietly and calmly ask your opposite half whether you are being reasonable and expect their honest replies. Remember that it is very difficult to maintain the kind of lifestyle you may have enjoyed before the children came along and understand that you now have a different set of priorities in your life.

The most important point to remember is that it will take the efforts of the team to raise the children properly and both members need to realise how much effort this will take and how it is a joint venture. When all is said and done, give each other a hug and remember that you are the leaders of the pack!

It’s not all doom and gloom You do need to prioritise time together, but just make sure that your time represents quality time. Ask yourself when you last spent a weekend away together or did something fun with each other. Plan a really nice, romantic dinner and don’t forget those meaningful, romance filled surprises, from back in the day.

Experts can often help mums with their huge challenge ahead, especially those who are still working when all this madness is going on. Thankfully, online life coaching is a marvellous way to pick up some truly professional coaching, and when it comes to coaching for women, it’s the perfect place to turn when life becomes manic!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Unemployment rates are crazy right now and the labour market can be a very unpleasant proposition. This is not the time to falter though and it is important to prepare your negotiation skills and boost your self-confidence, ready for battle. To start off with, you should make a thorough analysis of your financial position and needs for the months and years ahead. While you must always be reasonable, cut out anything that you don’t really need. You should be very clear about your financial requirements, the absolute minimums and the ideal scenarios.

You may well have been perfectly happy with your career before you took the break, but you should now evaluate exactly where you are, whether you want to go back into that arena or explore something completely fresh. Should you start your own business? If your financial analysis shows you that you can expect reasonable returns from self-employment and still make ends meet, then this option may allow you to create a good deal more flexibility in your life, down the road. This may well be the time to consider professional coaching as these are some very significant and potentially very impactful decisions. Thankfully, coaching for women in your situation can definitely help you to determine what to do.

Always be very positive and never negative. Determine what your strengths are, write them down on a piece of paper and keep them next to you at all times. Reinforce your psyche and project yourself in all your conversations, phone calls and e-mails.

When looking at a particular position, always consider jobs that may be beneath, but would naturally form part of a career progression in this field. You may be overqualified, but if it gives you a stepping-stone toward your ideal position, by going the extra mile you will soon find that you become eligible (and get) the position that you want.

Even in this tough hiring environment, those people who really stand out, help and over-perform will still get ahead of the unfortunate majority who do not. Set your mindset for success and you will get there.

At this stage, you will need all of the inner strength that you can muster. It is easy to get disenchanted by the negative news we hear about the economy and jobs every day and while you might begin to think that the task is very difficult, don’t think that it is a hill too steep. Remember to take the journey one step at a time, being fully confident of your ability and your readiness for a particular position before you start to contact the employer. Before you make a phone call, stand up and take a deep breath. If you have a drooping mindset or a sagging posture this will not help you. Remember to smile as you talk as well!

These days, online life coaching can provide you with the boost you require when you need it, especially in those periods of negativity. You can do it!

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

It would be really nice if everything and everyone were flexible, including schedules and you could just drop everything without notice to care for your ill child.

1. If you can – plan. It’s true that some of these days are unpredictable, but others may be scheduled ahead of time. The weather is always unpredictable of course, but snow days will only be expected during certain months of the year and inset days are almost always planned in advance, so with a bit of work, they can be placed in a schedule.

Sick days present the biggest problem of all, of course. You should do a little bit of planning and preparation work in full anticipation that this day will surely come! If planning really is a problem for you, consider professional coaching to help you get on that track.

2. Save up your personal days. If both parents or adults in the household have regular work commitments, it’s important to try and reserve some personal days for the inevitable sick calling. Many employers these days grant a certain amount of personal days and you should talk to your Human Resources department and your line manager as you try to anticipate these scenarios.

In many cases you will not have any advance notice, so you need to look at this from every perspective and try and be fair all around.

Whichever way you look at it, there’s no denying that it helps matters if you and your partner have a sympathetic employer. It is very important that you do not use personal or sick standby days for any reasons other than they’re intended for.

3. Set up some favours. Come up with a backup plan if you have several children that you are responsible for. In an emergency, maybe you can rely on some care giving help from friends or good neighbours? Always repay these favours in any way you can. With a number of emergency backup plans in place, you’ll be able to cope when a sick child or three comes to you.

4. Roll out the vitamins. When you are coping with sick children, remember that you should pay attention to prevention as it is a lot easier than the cure. Teach your children good personal hygiene, that they should eat well, should rest well and be in good health at all times, as they will be less likely to fall victim to those annoying, smaller viruses.

5. Be a good weather forecaster. Always keep a watchful eye on the forecasts during the winter months. These days they are generally much more reliable and if you can see the threat of a blizzard a couple of days ahead, start making contingency plans accordingly. If a school district is closed, it might be very difficult for you to get to your work location as well, but if the office is open, see if you can count on one of those personal days or plan to work from home.

You might think you have to wear so many different hats, that you never know which one to put on.

Nowadays, online life coaching can really help you work out which part of your wardrobe to turn to on each occasion! If you’re in need of guidance, coaching for women can help you to manage and not panic!

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.