Let’s face it, kids mess with your career. I thought my work-life balance would get better once my little monsters became big monsters, but having teenagers is just as bad for my working life as having toddlers. Even worse, teenagers don’t just wear me out so I am no good for work, they also destroy the house, so my home is no longer a sanctuary, it is a demolition site. But back to work; here is how becoming a parent is crap for your PR career.

1. You can‘t stay at the office late. When they were little, getting back in time to pick kids up from the nursery was a statistical nightmare. I often used to seeing people roll their eyes when I left the office on the dot. Lucky for me, years of seeing people roll their eyes at stuff I do meant this didn’t get to me. But the truth is, PR doesn’t keep to regular hours, so bosses like you to be available 24/7.

2. You are tired. It took years before the kids slept through the night, but hardly a second for them to become teenagers – now I have to wait up until the early hours of the morning for them to come home.

3. You look older, you are older. I reckon there is age discrimination in PR, and being a parent means you are deemed past it. Being a parent of teenagers means people wonder why you haven’t retired yet. And as you are exhausted you probably have bags under your eyes that make you look older than you are.

4. You aren‘t as committed. Work used to be my number one priority, but having kids changed all that. Bosses like it if you put the business first, because then you make them more money.

5. You become boring. See that glazed look in your colleague’s eye? Could you be talking about your darling offspring again? Save it for someone who is interested. That means no one apart from your co-parent.

6. You get demoted. If you should ever dare to work part-time in order to see your kids more often, that’s it, your career is over. You will never be considered for any top jobs in PR. But this doesn’t mean you have less work to do, quite the reverse, you will be expected to fit a full-time role into part-time hours.

7. You look a sight. Having your shoulder decorated with baby puke doesn’t look too professional.

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