School Runs and Client Calls: How VA Work Fits Around Family Life
You asked the kids how their day was, but you're not really there when they answer you.
You're mentally running through tomorrow's lessons. Worrying about the marking waiting for you when they’ve gone to bed. Calculating whether you can squeeze in some emails before dinner.
This is what "time with your family" looks like when you're a teacher. You're physically present, but mentally you're still in the classroom. And the guilt of that is very heavy.
But what if family time could actually mean being present? Not just there in body, but genuinely available - mentally, emotionally, and practically? This is what teachers who've transitioned to VA work discover: it's not just about having more hours with your family. It's about having different quality of hours.
Let's look at what family life can actually look like when you're a VA.
Morning Madness: A Different Start
The Teaching Reality: Alarm at 6am. Rush to get yourself ready while simultaneously making breakfast, finding PE kits, signing reading records, and mentally rehearsing first period. Drop the kids at breakfast club by 7:30am because you need to be at school early. Arrive at your classroom already tired, knowing you won't see your children again until after school when you're both exhausted.
VA Life: What if mornings weren't a race against the clock? As a VA, you design your schedule around your family's needs. Some teacher-VAs start work at 6am while the house is quiet, finishing by 2pm for school pickup. Others begin after the school run, enjoying a proper coffee and a calm start. The point is: you choose.
You can actually sit with your children at breakfast. Talk about their day ahead without frantically checking your phone for urgent school emails to see who is off or mentally planning lessons. Just be there. It sounds simple, but it's everything.
The School Run: Actually Doing It
The Teaching Reality: You don't do the school run. You're already at work. Your partner does it, or your parents, or your child goes to breakfast club. You miss the chat about their worries, the chance to see their friends' parents and stay connected to their world. And the guilt of that sits alongside all the other guilt.
VA Life: Being able to do school drop-off and pickup isn't just about logistics - it's about those small moments that make up childhood. You get to chat with other parents where you actually know what's happening in the class. The spontaneous "can we go to the park?" that you can sometimes say yes to.
You're not just dropping them off and picking them up. You're present for the in-between moments that you'd been missing.
Sick Days: No More Guilt Olympics
The Teaching Reality: Your child wakes up with a temperature. Your stomach sinks because you know what's coming: you have to make the call, guilt about leaving your class, knowing your TA will struggle, worrying about the work you're missing. Even when you're home with your poorly child, you're mentally at school. And if they need several days off? The guilt multiplies with each absence.
VA Life: Your child is ill. You message your clients: "Working from home with a poorly one today - may be slower to respond but I'm here." That's it. No horrendous phone call. No letting anyone down. You can actually focus on your child without that constant background anxiety about work.
You can work around them - early mornings when they're sleeping, late evenings when they're settled. But during the day, you're properly there.
The Washing Machine Moment
The Teaching Reality: The washing machine repair person can come between 8am-12pm on Tuesday. You can't be there. You either take a half day (more guilt), ask your partner to rearrange their day, or reschedule for the school holidays - but how will you do the washing in the meantime?
VA Life: "Tuesday morning between 8-12? No problem." This is the flexibility that sounds small but changes everything. The boiler service. The supermarket delivery. The dentist appointment that doesn't require taking annual leave.
It's not glamorous. But it's the difference between constantly playing catch-up with life admin and actually managing your household without everything feeling like a logistical nightmare.
School Holidays: Actually Enjoying Them
The Teaching Reality: School holidays sound luxurious until you're living them as a teacher. Yes, you're off. But you're also planning, setting up your classroom, catching up on the marking. Your family gets a slightly less stressed version of you, but you're never fully switched off.
VA Life: School holidays as a VA can genuinely be time off. Many VAs reduce their hours during holidays or take the time completely off. Because you're not employed by a school with term-time expectations. You run your business, which means you decide when you work and when you don't.
You can take proper family holidays. Maybe an hour a day checking emails while the kids have breakfast, the rest of the time fully present. Just actually being on holiday with your family.
Making It Work: The Practicalities
This all sounds wonderful, but how does it actually work when you've got client calls, client work and school runs?
It requires some planning, but it's entirely doable. Many teacher-VAs:
Schedule client calls during school hours
Use async communication (email, Slack, project management tools) so they're not tied to their desk
Block out school run times in their calendar so clients know they're unavailable
Front-load work earlier in the week for flexible Fridays
Work split days - mornings and evenings with afternoons for family
Build school holiday time into their annual planning from the start
The difference is: you're making these decisions. You're designing the schedule. You're choosing how work and family fit together, not having it dictated to you by a completely inflexible school timetable that doesn't care about your family's needs.
The Transformation That Matters
The teachers who make this transition don't just talk about having more time with their families. They talk about being different with their families.
More patient, because they're not depleted. More present, because they're not mentally elsewhere. More fun, because they have energy left for play. More relaxed, because the guilt has lifted.
Your children don't need a perfect parent who never works. They need a parent who's actually there when they're there. Who has energy to give.
VA work doesn't make family life perfect. But it makes it possible to show up as the parent and partner you want to be, not the exhausted shell of a person that teaching often leaves behind.
That version of you is possible. And VA work might just be how you find them again. If you are ready to find out more we’d love to have you at our next FREE Teacher to VA Webinar. You’ll hear from real teachers who’ve made the move with us. Monday 16th February, 7-8:15 PM. Replay available.
