For Linda Griffin, an accountant and mother of three, her workday doesn’t start when she gets to work and end when she gets home. With three kids, aged 3, 9 and 11, her workday starts when she wakes up at 6:00 a.m. and ends around 10:00 p.m., after homework is done, stories are read and the children are asleep in their beds. Every week, she’s clocking 80 hours of work a week, and that’s just from Monday until Friday.
“Our mornings start at 6 a.m. and are incredibly busy, with everyone running around trying to get ready for their days,” said Griffin. “My husband and I split the morning dropoffs and I head to New York City for work. The commute usually takes an hour and 15 minutes on a good day, on a bad day, even longer. My husband and a babysitter handle the pickups. I usually get home around 6:30 or 7 p.m., but if I have to work late, I might not get home until after 9 p.m., which just extends my work day even longer because the rest of the stuff still has to get done.”
Griffin isn’t alone. A recent study showed that working mothers average more than 90 hours of work per week, when the time doing chores around the house is factored in.
Because of the age difference between her youngest and oldest children, Griffin is regularly asked if things are harder with Connor, who came six years after his sister Emily. Griffin laughs, “Connor is the easiest. He goes to daycare!”
The “daycare” she is referring to is actually much more than a daycare. Lightbridge Academy is an early education and child care center with a comprehensive curriculum, and Connor is enrolled at the Rutherford, New Jersey location. Her children have been enrolled at that same center since her oldest, Kayleigh, now 11, was a baby, and by the time Connor graduates, the family will have been going to that center for 14 consecutive years.
“The older girls have activities, I have to keep track of who has to get picked up where, who has homework or other projects,” Griffin said. “With Connor, his Lightbridge Academy schedule is the easiest for us. We drop him off and we know he’s in good hands and learning all day at Lightbridge. Some centers close early, but Lightbridge is open until 6:30 p.m., which works great for our busy schedules.”
When she was looking into care options for Kayleigh, she was drawn to the brand not only because of its convenient hours, but because of its bright atmosphere and friendly and caring staff. Now, more than a decade later, her feelings of loyalty have only gotten stronger.
“From the minute I walked in with Kayleigh, Lightbridge felt like the perfect place for us. I knew that no matter what is going on in my day, my kids were taken care of, having fun and learning. When the girls come with me to drop off Connor, they’re excited to see their teachers. It’s like a family. We were very lucky with the directors and the parents in the class, it was a tight-knit group and we are all still connected.”
Griffin adds that all three of her children had the same teacher in the infant room, which says a lot about teacher retention.
“When we started at Lightbridge Academy, the center was less than a year old, and some of the classrooms were empty. Since then, the center has expanded because it was so well-received in the area. I feel that the staff puts in the extra effort and genuinely care about my children. It always feels very sincere. Plus, they take care of us as parents. They’re very accommodating, communicative and easy to work with and make my life as a busy working mom much easier.”
The balance between work and family life will always be tough for working mothers like Griffin, but when a child is in good hands during the workweek, it makes all the difference.