As a working mum I find it always a challenge to get the balance right. Working full time and raising my family brings many challenges, one of which is how to keep in touch with each other. I work from home and in London and often find that I need to be able to keep in touch with my children, family and colleagues and using Skype helps me to do this.
I use Skype to check my son has arrived home safely from school, to discuss and work with colleagues and external agencies and to keep in touch with my niece who lives in South Africa.
For my family I use video, calls and text messages to keep in touch. My son loves changing his status to give me an idea of what he is up to and often makes me laugh. 
He is not always keen to use the video as he is approaching the age of being a teenager and a bit self conscious. But we chat and write to each other, share documents for homework, which I know he thinks of me as his PA sending me documents to print off as it is easier for mum to do it! We share pictures as well and really enjoy being able to keep in touch in such a variety of ways.
My niece moved to South Africa a few years ago with her two lovely babies. It was hard not to see the children all the time and I know her mum uses Skype all the time to see the children and keep the visual contact alive. Children soon forget what people look like when they are very young so it is an incredibly important part of being able to see and hear each other when visiting is difficult and can be years apart. Watching and seeing children grow up from a distance is so hard but at least you can keep in touch using Skype video conferencing and have a real family get together online. Babies change massively, especially in the first year and I wish Skype had been around when mine where babies as my family live 70 miles away and I would have used it to share special moments together.
I also use Skype for work, as 90% of my week I work remotely from my colleagues and I find that we can keep in touch very easily and efficiently by using Skype video conference, call facilities and messaging. I often have video calls with external contacts as many use Skype. People I work with live in different parts of the country so meeting up is not only time consuming but costly. This is a very cost effective and efficient use of my limited time, but I still get the benefit of seeing people, hearing their tone of voice and expressions, all without leaving my computer.
Video calls are certainly a positive and efficient way to communicate with all the people in my life, allowing me to use my time efficiently and to assist me in keeping all the important people in my life close to me whether that be professional colleagues, family or friends.
Skype is not just for business and I find that I can easily mix the two on my Skype account allowing me to keep everything flexible, being available when I am needed and reassurance, especially for my children that I am available for them whenever they need me. Family can get hold of me easily and keeping everyone happy, including me, is a high priority in my work and personal life.
It’s time to say more and stay human. It’s time for Skype.
by Debbie Bird – editor of babyworld
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Skype via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Skype.
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