Work and Parenting Through the Storms: It Takes a Village

by Stacey Lee Henderson

Clinical Psychologist / Organizational Psychologist / Parenting Coach

Work & Parenting Through the Storms: It Takes a Village

Balancing career, family, and identity often leaves parents feeling underwater—but you're not meant to swim alone. In this blog, Psychologist & Parenting Coach, Stacey Lee Henderson, explores how building a supportive “village” transforms stress into resilience, helps you weather parenting storms, and redefines success on your own terms.

• What does “it takes a village” mean for parents today?

  It highlights the need for a broader support network—family, friends, colleagues, and community—to help parents juggle career and caregiving responsibilities.

• How can working parents find support?

  Start small: reach out to neighbours, join parent groups, collaborate with colleagues, or join online and local support communities proactively, not just during crisis.

• How does a parenting village reduce burnout?

  Shared childcare, emotional support, and flexible workplace arrangements lighten the load and buffer stress, preventing exhaustion and guilt.

• How can workplaces support working parents better?

  Supportive workplaces offer flexible hours, parental leave, mental-health days, and a culture that de-stigmatizes asking for help.

• What small gestures can strengthen your village?

  Offering help—like cooking a meal, babysitting, or checking in—builds reciprocal support and fosters community resilience.

Parenting is often described as the most rewarding and the most challenging job in the world. When you combine that with the responsibilities of a demanding career, the balance can sometimes feel like you are barely keeping your head above the water. The modern parent is expected to be present, productive, nurturing, and ambitious—all at once. And perhaps we even feel that guilt when we can’t deliver all around. Is that realistic though? Can we be a little kinder to ourselves and accept that it’s okay to need and ask for help.

While we’ve come to embrace the reality that storms are part of life—unexpected illness, work deadlines, meltdowns at daycare, family crises—the myth that we must weather them alone persists. But here’s the truth: parenting and working through the storms is not a solo act. It takes a village.

The Myth of Doing It All

The idea of “having it all” has long haunted working parents. Social media perpetuates curated images of clean homes, smiling children, and fulfilled professionals seemingly handling it all with grace. But for most of us, the truth is far messier. My living room for example tends to look like a tornado of toys has just passed through, and baskets of laundry needing to be folded at some point or other.

But I tell myself, I am not the only one. It’s okay to get to them eventually. Maybe even play a ‘Clean Up Game’ to get the little hands working to help us, and it will surprise you that they enjoy the clean up process just as much if not more, when there is a little fun and music put into it.

There are mornings when we show up to meetings with cereal on our shirts, nights when work emails are typed one-handed while rocking a feverish child, and moments of guilt that sneak in whether we’re missing a school performance or skipping a work event.

The pressure to be everything to everyone often leads to burnout and feelings of inadequacy. The illusion of the super-parent is not only unrealistic—it’s dangerous. It promotes isolation and discourages asking for help. But if we step back and examine what truly sustains working parents through chaos, we often find it’s not willpower or perfection. It’s community.

The Village: More Than a Metaphor

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is more than just a proverb; it’s a lifeline. A village can look like many things: the grandparents who step in during emergencies, the co-worker who covers your shift, the neighbour who picks up your child when you’re stuck in traffic, or the friend who reminds you that you’re doing your best. The village includes teachers, bosses, paediatricians, counsellors or therapists, and even the barista who remembers your coffee order on sleep-deprived mornings.

In times of crisis, this village becomes even more critical. Consider a parent navigating a child’s hospitalization while holding onto a job. Or a single mother juggling remote work with toddlers underfoot during a pandemic. Or a father coping with job loss while trying to keep his teenager motivated through school. In each of these cases, the strength to persist often comes not from within alone, but from the collective scaffolding of support around them.

Building Your Village

For some, the village is inherited—extended families, tight-knit communities, or long-standing friends. For others, it must be built from scratch. This is especially true for those living far from home, navigating separation or divorce, or new to parenthood.

Building your village starts with vulnerability and intention. It’s about reaching out before you’re in crisis. Join a parent WhatsApp group or local support groups even if you don’t love group chats or social gathering. Accept help when it’s offered.

Be honest with your team at work when you’re overwhelmed. Relationships are reciprocal—be the one who steps in when others need a hand, and don’t hesitate to lean in when the tables turn.

Workplaces can play a pivotal role in this. Flexible hours, parental leave policies, mental health days, and supportive managers make a difference. When workplaces acknowledge the complexity of parenting and create cultures of compassion, they become part of the village too.

The Storms Are Inevitable

Life does not ask us to parent and work only when it’s convenient. It doesn’t schedule challenges neatly between project deadlines or report cards. Illnesses don’t wait for vacation days. Grief doesn’t pause for quarterly reviews. Storms come without warning.

What helps us endure is not eliminating these storms, but knowing we don’t have to face them alone. When a colleague says, “Take care of your family, I’ve got this,” it’s an act of solidarity. When a friend drops off dinner or simply listens without judgment, it’s a balm for the soul.

For parents, there’s also the quiet heroism in everyday moments: the lunch packed despite a sleepless night, the email sent with a toddler on your lap, the bedtime story read after a 12-hour shift. These acts may seem small, but they are profound. They are proof of resilience. DO NOT discount these small wins because they took an immense amount of resilience, strength and energy to get there. You’ve got this!

Redefining Success

One of the most powerful things we can do as working parents is redefine what success looks like—not by society’s expectations, but by our own values. Perhaps success isn’t a perfect performance review or a spotless home. Maybe it’s a week where everyone got to school and work mostly on time. Maybe it’s showing your children that being human means sometimes asking for help and sometimes being the helper.

Children learn not just from our strengths, but from how we navigate our struggles. They see us juggle, fall, and get back up. They see us lean on others, adapt, and keep going. In witnessing this, they learn resilience, empathy, and the importance of community. Be the strong role model and superhero for your kids to follow suit, and show them that even superheroes can be vulnerable and that’s okay.

Investing in Others

As we seek support, we also have the opportunity to be part of someone else’s village. A small gesture—a text to a tired friend, an offer to babysit for an overwhelmed parent, a listening ear to a colleague struggling to balance caregiving and deadlines—can mean the world.

Sometimes the most powerful village isn’t built with grand gestures, but with small, consistent acts of care. It’s in showing up, checking in, holding space, and making room for each other’s humanity.

A Collective Path Forward

In a world that often emphasizes independence, we must reclaim the beauty of interdependence. The path of work and parenting will always include storms. But with a village—however it’s shaped—we don’t have to navigate those storms alone.

So let’s normalize asking for help. Let’s celebrate the messy, the imperfect, the real. Let’s advocate for policies that support working families and fight for systems that acknowledge caregiving as vital, not optional.

And most importantly, let’s remember that we are not alone. Every time we lean on each other, we remind ourselves—and our children—that strength doesn’t always come from standing alone, but from standing together.

Because through every storm, it truly does take a village. I’ll be honored if you let me be part of your village, book in a session with me.