Challenges and sacrifices...

I have been asked many times, "Are you a full time mother now?" What is the definition of a full-time mother? 

 

Being home with my children is the best thing that I could possibly do in my life, I never really considered carrying on with my business once my sweet baby arrived.  Working from home was never my plan. 2 years ago when Hayley came into our lives, I made a decision to ‘let go’ of my business, and to let my partner who is also a good friend of mine to manage it, the least I could do was to be a sleeping partner, as that's the only way I could sit back, (I thought) and receive a small income, best of both worlds, right?  Things did not work out the way I planned and I had to make a choice that was not mine. Long story cut short, I have since been a  working-at-home mom.  Yes, I have the flexibility to work at my own pace, I can choose my own hours (not all the time though), take time off when needed.

 

2 years later, today, I adore what I do and it would be hard to give it up, especially when we are talking about the raise in the living standards which call for double income earners per family, about frugality and money management, is it still possible to raise a family on single income? The impacts of having a sole breadwinner in a family can be challenging in this season of life. One can only imagine. However, it’s not all perfect. There have been hard times as well. As a business owner, you know how easy it can be to push yourself too hard, to let the lines between personal and work time blur too much, to allow priorities to become out of order, and for relationships to suffer.  A business owner who works at home, I am required to be on call to provide urgent support at almost any time and in this aspect, I find it really hard to know how, when and where to keep my laptop and smartphone in check. It is an issue I deliberately manage every single day, though not always successfully.

 

So, solution? I self-imposed a strict working schedule, only check emails in the morning, usually in the wee hours of the morning when she is fast asleep or during her naps in the afternoons. I needed a strict schedule for two main reasons:

• even if there was no urgent matter looming, I found myself responding to so many e-mails some of which do not need urgent attention, so much so that I couldn’t get the things in the house done, like preparing meals for the whole family, laundry which usually piles up for a week, running errands, etc. 
 
• if I did find an urgent issue pending it would add so much stress to my day, and to my little girl who could sense the tension

However, my so-called plan backfires most of the time. Just last week, I was busy attending to a flurry of emails and a critical conference call with my associates in the US on an important issue. It lasted for hours.  Would anything be more important than preparing a breakfast meal for a growing toddler? My girl had to skip the most important meal of the day, poor little girl.  I know I should not thank Disney Junior for her availability to baby sit my girl the entire morning, but the way things turned out, left me with no choice.

Sacrifices have to be made.  Things I have sacrificed, but have learned the hard way.

TIME with God. I have heard this over and over again, "just when we think we don't have enough time, that's when we need to make time" 

 

TIME with my girl.  Knowing that she will be in preschool soon, I just want to spend more time with her.

TIME with my dearest one.  Need I say more?
 
Beauty sleep 
 
Work out.  How I need that!

I am not regretting the decision that I've made but I have at times regretted the way I have done things, which could have been better or more efficient.  Along the way, I have had to make a lot of changes and adjustments to work less but smarter and....I’m still learning.

- Michele -