More and more companies are beginning to recognize this difficulty and implement work/family programs. If your company already has one, take advantage of it. Not everyone has this benefit, and it will make your life much easier.

If you work at a company that doesn't have one of these programs, you may want to talk to your boss about getting one. It will help if you are knowledgeable on the subject before the conversation. Here are some types of work/family programs you may want to consider requesting, according to Child Care Aware.

1) Flextime- This is just a fancy word for having a flexible schedule. You will still work the same amount of hours, but the times you start and get off will be more lenient. This can be useful for accommodating morning parent teacher conferences or evening band concerts, without losing pay.

2) Compressed workweek- This is another way to free up some of your time but still work a full schedule. You will work longer days, but you will have a shorter week. For example, if you normally work eight hours a day Monday through Friday, you would work ten hours a day but only work Monday through Thursday. Either way it works out to forty hours, so your pay would stay the same. This can work out well if you simply want to spend more time with your child. Being able to take your kid to the zoo on Friday can be worth more than getting home a little earlier during the week.

3) Regular part-time- This is a good solution if working a full schedule, even a modified one, just isn't working out for you and your family. With a regular part-time schedule, you would only work part-time, but still get all the benefits of a full-time employee.

4) Telecommuting- In this day and age, most communication and work is done on computers. If your job consists of sitting at a computer all day, consider the possibility of working from your home computer sometimes. This can save you the trouble of finding a babysitter on days when your child doesn't have school or stays home sick.