Coming Back to Work After Children Wasn't Easy. Then Anila Found Home Instead Watford
If you’ve ever stood at that crossroads as a Mum, knowing you want to go back to work now that the kids are a bit older, but not quite knowing how, you’ll understand the particular kind of pressure that comes with it.
It’s not just about finding a job, but about finding the right job. One that works around school runs and unexpected sick days, around the cost of childcare and the guilt of being pulled in two directions at once. One that also still feels meaningful at the end of the day, rather than just something you turn up to.
For a lot of mums, that combination feels like a lot to ask. But for Anila, a Care Professional with Home Instead Watford, it’s exactly what she found.
She Loved Her Job. But Then Life Changed
Anila has over twelve years of experience in care, most recently working in a care home in Watford before she had her children. It was a role she was good at and one she valued, but when her family grew, the working pattern that had always been part of the position stopped being manageable. The early starts, late evenings and rotas that shifted at short notice could no longer easily be accommodated alongside the life she was trying to build at home.
Stepping away from work she genuinely loved wasn’t an easy decision, but as her children got older and she felt ready to return, she knew that whatever she went back to, it had to work differently this time. Something flexible, something meaningful and something that made the whole thing financially worth it.
What she didn’t expect was to find all of that in home care.
Why Home Instead Watford Felt Different From Anything Else She’d Seen
When Anila started looking for a job, she wasn’t after a complete change of direction. She just wanted to find her way back into work she loved without having to choose between doing it well and being there for her children. What she came across at Home Instead Watford felt quietly different from anything else she’d seen.
“What really stood out to me was that it wasn’t about rushing through care visits and moving on. It was about actually getting to know the people you’re caring for, seeing them regularly, building something real with them. After having children, that kind of care, where you’re really present with someone, felt more important to me than ever. I knew straight away that this was somewhere I could do the job properly.”
She’d seen what care looked like when it was done in a hurry, and she knew that wasn’t the care professional she wanted to be. The fact that visits here run for a minimum of an hour, with the same carers seeing the same clients week after week, told her everything she needed to know about whether this was the right fit.
Returning to the Workforce After Children
If you’ve ever worried that time away from work has left you behind somehow, you’re in very good company. It’s one of those things almost everyone going back to work after children quietly carries around with them. That nagging feeling that while you were doing the hardest job of your life, the professional version of you got a little rusty.
Anila felt it too.
“I think I assumed I’d walk back in and feel out of my depth. I was nervous about whether I still had it, if that makes sense. But actually, being a mum had made me so much more patient, so much more tuned in to what people need. Those years at home hadn’t set me back at all. If anything, I think they made me better at this.”
The recruitment process helped settle her nerves too. It wasn’t the formal, slightly intimidating experience she’d been bracing herself for.
“From the very first conversation, I felt like they were genuinely interested in me as a person, not just ticking boxes. I never felt like just another applicant. It made the whole thing feel much more like a natural step than I’d expected.”
How Care Professional Working Hours Fit Around Family Life
When Anila joined Home Instead Watford, she started out trying different shifts to find what worked best, and over time she shaped her availability around what genuinely suited her family. At the moment she works weekends only, around six to seven hours across Saturday and Sunday, with her wider family helping out with the children on those days. It’s an arrangement that works well for where she is right now, and one she arrived at through real conversation with the team rather than having to fit herself around a fixed structure.
What matters just as much as the current arrangement is that it isn’t fixed in a way that boxes her in. As her children get older and their routines change, Anila is already thinking about expanding into weekday hours, and the option of shifts that sit around the school day, starting at 9:15am and finishing around 2pm, means she can build her career steadily in a way that grows alongside her family rather than pulling against it.
“The flexibility here is real. It’s not something they just say, it actually works the way they describe it. As the children get older, I know I can increase my hours in a way that still fits around them. That matters more than I can really explain.”
Being a Mum Is Better Preparation for Care Work Than You'd Think
Anila is someone who will tell you quite openly that becoming a mum made her better at her job, not worse. The years she spent at home weren’t time away from her career so much as time that quietly shaped and developed her further. She came back more patient, more attuned to the people she was caring for and more certain about what kind of care professional she wanted to be.
It’s something we hear from a lot of mums who join our team, often with some surprise. The experience of raising children builds something in you that is genuinely hard to teach in a training room, and in a role where the quality of your relationship with a client matters as much as anything practical you might do for them, that counts for a great deal.
At Home Instead Watford, care professionals see the same clients at the same times each week, often for years. It’s that consistency that makes the relationships real, and real relationships are at the heart of why people like Anila find the work so rewarding.
“The best thing about working here is the relationships you build with your clients. You see the same people at the same time each week, and you really get to know them. Sometimes, you might be the only person they see that day, and being able to put a smile on their face makes such a difference. It brightens their day, and mine too.”
What a Care Role With Home Instead Watford Looks Like
The practical side of things matters just as much as everything else. Pay starts from £14.50 to £16.50 per hour, making Home Instead Watford one of the highest paying care providers in the local area. Travel time and mileage between visits are paid, so the time spent getting from one client to the next is never time you’re out of pocket for. There’s also a workplace pension, paid holiday, access to an employee benefits portal with retail and leisure discounts, Blue Light Card eligibility, and a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
Training is provided from day one and it goes well beyond an induction. As you grow in the role, there are specialist courses in areas like dementia and Parkinson’s care, and even Anila, with over twelve years of experience behind her, found the training here worthwhile. It’s built to give you real confidence out in the field, not just tick a compliance box.
Our Care Professionals support clients across Watford, Bushey, Rickmansworth and the surrounding areas, so for most people joining the team, this is genuinely local work, looking after people in the same community you already live in. It’s something many of our Care Professionals say adds a great deal to how the role feels day to day.
Care Jobs in Watford for Mums Returning to Work: Where to Start
Every mum’s situation is different and we understand that. What works for Anila won’t look exactly the same for someone else, and the best thing we can do is have an honest conversation about where you are and what might fit.
If her story has made you curious, we’d love to hear from you. You can call our recruitment team on 01923 250513 or find out more about joining Home Instead Watford here. If you’d rather come in and meet the team over a cup of tea first, you’re always welcome at our office at Unit 11, Asda Watford Superstore, Odhams Industrial Estate, St Albans Road, Watford, WD24 7RT.
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