Mompreneur Mayhem
CRASH!! BANG!!!BOOM!!!
“What was that?,” I cried out to my daughter who obviously was the cause for such a noise. Of course, she’s still a toddler and can not really answer the question. So I go into the room, and there she is standing atop her toy bin, which is shaped almost like a staircase (Thanks IKEA) and throwing the items off of the shelves on the wall. Typical toddler behavior I’m sure, but it does not change the fact that it is very hard to take care of your children and run a business at the same time. There I was sneaking in some morning hours of work on the computer and she was turning her bedroom into a disaster area. My next thought is, “How can I still be a good mother and make sure that my children are safe, when my eyes are fixated on a computer screen?” Then I remember that I will need to keep doing what most wahms/mompreneurs with young children do, sneak in work while they are sleeping. I was a little lazy this morning and got up at 6am, instead 3am to get the work in. This really put a kink in the amount of work I was able to get done before Isabella got up. The loud sound was my true wake-up call, as it brought the memory back to my brain that I have a toddler needing my attention right in the other room.
But what about the times that they are not sleeping? And then there is the need to interact with your clientele while they are awake as well. How can we balance work and babies, all while making sure we have time for ourselves? The truth is, I don’t have the answer. Nor am I going to be able to tell you how you can make it work. Every situation is personal and it takes you to figure the answer out. I can, however, offer you some suggestions and tell you what other things have worked for me.
First off, I go to bed early. I know it sounds cheesy, but the old saying, “Early to bed, early to rise….” really does work. My grandparents are in their 70’s, they get up early every morning, and they greet each day with enthusiasm and energy. I put my kids to bed early and I follow shortly after, after spending about an hour with my husband to have that connection and communication you can’t really get while changing diapers and such.
Going to bed early helps me to get up early, before the kiddies wake up. In the wee hours of the morning, I read and respond to e-mails, write blogs, update my site, interact in my social networks, and sometimes schedule tweets for when I won’t be at the computer.
I squeeze in at least 15 minutes of break to have some mom-me time. I sometimes just sit and think, sometimes I watch something on tv, sometimes I take a bath, or read a magazine. What’s important is I get that chance to be with just me.
Once they are awake, I stop and take care of their needs. Don’t forget that they are one of the reasons we are doing what we do. We need to take care of their needs as well. They can not do it all alone and they need us to help them.
Usually after they eat breakfast, I give them a bath. When they are fed and relaxed from that, I put them down for a nap. This usually gives me about a half an hour to an hour of time to do some calling or work on the computer.
When they wake up from the nap, I play with them and make sure that they know that I want to spend time with them. This way they still get my full attention and they know that they are important to me. I have slowly learned that my daughter getting into things and taking things out of her drawers was just a cry for attention, and that she is more cooperative with me working when I give her one on one time.
After playing with them, I let my daughter play independently in her room and I place my son in his play yard or on his playmat on his tummy so he gets tummy time. This way they get a chance to develop their imaginations and independence. Additionally, it gives me the chance to do some more work on the computer.
Then we break for lunch. Sometimes we might forget to eat when we get so enthralled with our work. I am totally guilty of this and I have been making extreme efforts to make sure that I eat lunch everyday. It is important that we nourish ourselves so that we can stay healthy and maintain our energy level.
I squeeze in some more work and play after lunch. Having a business, especially one that is almost entirely online, requires a lot of time. I try to do some work and have the babies there so that I can keep an eye on them. I steal glances away to respond to an e-mail here or there and I talk to people on the phone while I am cleaning the house and folding laundry. It is all a balancing act.
My work almost completely stops when the hubby gets home. I must admit that this was not something self-inflicted. This is something my husband enforces as he wants to make sure that we get time together as a family. Though I reluctantly agreed to this at first, I can totally undertsand his rationale.
Like I said, it is all about you and your personal situation. It isn’t going to be easy. In fact, there will be days you want to give up, but don’t forget that what you are doing will empower yourself, empower other women, and will empower your daughter(s) if you have them. Now isn’t that worth the chaos?
