Being a mum, and the owner of Baby and Mumma Gifts, I have a bit of a crazy, busy life. Being a parent, whether you work away from home, work at home, or whether you’re taking care of the kids full time, is a crazy, busy rollercoaster full of love, challenges, and every different emotion in the one day. My life, as a mum who works from home, is just as crazy as everyone else’s.
I have two different types of work days; the days when my children are home, and the days when my children are in daycare and kinder (pre-school). I have two children, one who attends kindergarten (which is called pre-school in other states!), and the other who goes to daycare three days each week.
To share a little insight into my life, here is a little overview of everything that is involved with being a work at home mum and business owner.
6 AM:
My husband is up and ready to get to work. He is such a morning person, I am not at all. If I had my way, I would wake up at 9 AM every day. My husband starts work at 7AM, so leaves really early. If the kids are awake and ready to start their day early, hubby gets them up and makes them breakfast. If I’m still asleep, he will put the TV on for them so I can sleep just a little bit longer. #blessed
7AM – 8AM:
The kids are awake, and it’s ready for the mad dash of getting everyone ready for daycare and kinder. I can’t explain why, but time goes in both slow motion and fast motion at the same time. My children work at a snail’s pace, and yet I look away from the clock for what feels like two seconds, and twenty minutes has somehow passed!
Every morning, I need to get the children up out of bed, get them dressed, make breakfast for them (if my husband hasn’t done it), make myself breakfast and coffee, pack everyone’s bags, fill up everyone’s drink bottles, pack the kinder child’s lunchbox in her bag, get everyone’s teeth brushed, hair brushed, everyone’s shoes on, all the bags, and the children into the car and ready to go. I also have to make myself look somewhat presentable for the drop off.
During this time, there is almost always at least one tantrum, one set of lost shoes, one child complaining about wanting to wear something different (such as a coat in summer!), one drink bottle with a missing lid, one or two children wanting daddy to drop them off, at least one fight between the two children, both children wanting to watch TV, or wanting to watch “just one more show”, both children taking 27 minutes to do a two second job because “I can do it myself!”. Kinder starts at 8:30, but I am notorious at showing up five minutes late.
8:30 onwards:
This is the time I get to work. I love my business, and I love what I do. Being on my own for most of the day on my children’s daycare days, I get the freedom to work from home, and do everything that is involved in running a business. A big part of this, and perhaps my favourite part, is making orders. I love seeing the orders, and seeing what beautiful gifts everyone has chosen, as well as the wonderful messages that are on the gift cards.
While making orders is a big part of what I do each day, there are so many parts of running a small business. Like many other small business owners, I do a lot of this myself. This can sometimes mean that I am super busy, and overworked, but it also means that I have the freedom to do the things that I see as the most important, and prioritise my tasks in a way that makes sense to me.
Other than making orders, each week there are many tasks that need to be completed, including:
· Social media posts
· Blog posts
· Research and development of new products
· Ordering products and keeping inventory
· Bookkeeping
· Website maintenance and updating
· Marketing
· Networking (usually online)
· Learning – my favourite way of learning is through audiobooks and podcasts
As well as working, as a mum, I also have an enormous amount of domestic jobs to do, and I generally try to do those on the days when my children are at daycare, that way I can make the most of it when my kids are home and enjoy my time with them. And, of course, it is nearly impossible to do housework with two small children around.
So in addition to my work, each day I’m doing:
· Laundry
· Dishes
· Cleaning
· Cooking and meal prep
· Paying bills
· Organising appointments
· Picking up the 700 toys that are on the floor
· Doing shopping
· Taking care of the dogs
· The ten million other jobs that come up during the day.
4:30:
Time to pick the kids up! So exciting! Although often there is frustration that I wasn’t able to get everything done that I wanted, and I have things that go to tomorrow’s or next week’s to-do list.
5:00 – 7:00
It’s that mad rush time. In this time I get dinner ready, bath everyone, brush teeth, pjs, and get ready for bed. Thankfully, this is usually done with the help of my husband.
7:00 – about 8:30:
Bedtime. Is it just me, or do everyone’s children suddenly become thirsty, hungry, need a specific toy, forget something terribly important in the car, or want to have a really deep and meaningful conversation right at bedtime? I hope it’s not just mine! Bedtime can take a REALLY long time in our house.
8:30 onwards:
After 8:30, it’s our time. In this time, I’m sometimes catching up on work things. There are often a lot of things that need to be done that this time, such as unpacking stock, making orders ready for the morning (especially if it’s a busy day or if the kids are home the next day). This is a good time to get these things finished as my husband is home. Once this is all done, it’s time to get in some me-time or us-time.
Some of my favourite things to do include:
TV – boring, I know. We just finished watching Ozark, very behind the times! Currently we’re looking for our next binge-worthy TV series
Books – I love reading. I’ve just finished the Prince Harry memoir, and I’ve just started “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover
Hobbies – lets be honest, I hardly get time for hobbies. But when I do, I love to write, I enjoy crafts, drawing and painting, and love to spend time on projects after the kids get to bed in the end.
Online shopping – why is this so addictive! I wonder if this is why I ended up opening an online store business? I love online shopping. Sometimes I’m buying exciting things like clothing. Other times it’s boring, practical things, like a Milwaukee battery adaptor for my Dyson Vacuum.
So there you have it, a day in my life. Every day is a little different, and every day I’m trying and learning new things. If you’re a working mum I’d love to hear from you about your amazing, messy life as well!
Comments