Scaffolding for working mums

When I reflect on my years as a working mum in an executive role, complete with travel and demanding deadlines, one thing stands out: I couldn’t have done it alone. Creating capacity to show up where it mattered most wasn’t about juggling everything myself—it was about building scaffolding to hold it all together.

For years, a critical part of that scaffolding was our nanny. She was with us every weekday afternoon from 3–7 pm, handling school pickups, homework supervision, packed lunches, and dinner prep. She even tackled the endless tasks like laundry and tidying floors. Over time, several amazing young women filled this role, and each became a valued part of our family.

Before having this help, I relied on long daycare and after-school care. While it worked logistically, it brought a lot of stress—and guilt. Shifting to someone at home with the kids during those afternoons changed everything. The children were calmer, the house was more organised, and I wasn’t left facing a mountain of chores after they were in bed.

Now that my kids are older, they like to remind me that the nanny was more for me than for them—and they’re absolutely right. Having this scaffolding gave me the capacity to focus on what mattered most.

It takes a village to raise a family, but sometimes that village looks different. For me, it meant not leaning too heavily on my family, who had their own busy lives. I saved their help for special moments—like a school assembly clashing with a board meeting or a trip to the dentist.

Other key pieces of scaffolding included:

• A flexible, supportive partner (although I spent many years managing as a solo parent).
• A workplace that valued flexibility, understanding the importance of working from home for sick kids or waiting for the technician's four-hour window.

This scaffolding wasn’t just about keeping everything afloat—it was about creating the capacity to lead, parent, and live with purpose and focus.

What about you? What scaffolding have you built to create capacity in your life?

📷 by Dan Gold on Unsplash