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It is so hard creating, starting a business when you are single let alone with kids and a husband to look after. It often feels like you are being stretched endlessly in all different directions with no time for yourself.
Even more so if you are a mum working from home! it sounds ideal and is great for flexibility but there are so many balls in the air everyday !
You have to remember the kids need their uniform ironed and lunch organised every school day,you have to drop them off at school … then you have the cherished 6 hours of working on your business with quick moments of making sure the kitchen is clean, beds madworking mome and washing done.
All the while staying focused on growing your business and keeping your goals on track.
Then you pick up the kids and try to stay PRESENT even though your mind is thinking of all the emails in your inbox that will be there while you quickly take the kids to the park to give them some fresh air before plonking them down in front of the TV while you respond to those emails.
Then you rush them to after school activities while answering more emails on your phone as you encourage them to kick the ball hard at soccer training or sit in the car on your laptop while they are at dancing lessons. All the while thinking that tea needs to be made and what can you easily pop in the oven when you get home. It is hectic!
Give yourself a break
We really need to give ourselves a break! We need to pat ourselves on the back for breaking away from the normal 9-5 jobs and creating a business that we love, not a lot of people have the courage to do that. A lot of woman have a passion but are too scared to take that first step, to leave that security of their 9-5 job. So for us women who have taken that step working from home or from their own office we need to hold our heads high and say Hey we did it!! We took that dream and we are living it…sure with kids it is very stressful and totally draining but hey we had the guts to go out on our own and strive for that better life, more money and more freedom…
Acknowledge the family role
And I think we need to acknowledge we are mums and wives first and family stuff will come first. You will have that meeting that has to be cancelled because your child is home sick from school and there is no-one to look after them…you will have an appointment where you need to take the kids with you and you just have to hope to hell with enough food and toys your kids will sit still long enough for you to talk to your client…you know what…that’s life…it’s okay we will get through it…we just need to take a breath and say we are doing the best we can, running a business and a family life and sometimes stuff happens!!
Work/life balance
I don’t think there is such a thing…when you are so passionate about your business it becomes your life and of course your family are your life … so there really is no separating them. You will be replying to emails at 9 or 10pm at night after you have run around with the after school activities, gave the kids dinner, made sure they did their homework, had a shower and cleaned up the kitchen…that’s okay…you will be exhausted while the kids are still young…but hey you are doing an awesome thing…creating a life you love and a future for your kids.
So give yourself a break…it will all work out, you just have to go through the trenches while the kids and your business are young…there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Disclaimer
My kids are now 17 & 19 and very self sufficient – one more year of the school run and that is it for us, and my business is now 5 years young and is finally starting to flourish… and my husband helped every day with cooking…I am a hopeless cook!
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