working mom
Here’s our latest Designing Moms post…”Balance: Working at Home”
Take a sneak at our work “meeting” this past week……..
Hi Mama’s.
Kristen and I at Tin Parade often get asked by other mom’s, how we do it. We have met so many mothers who love the idea of starting a business and they aren’t sure how that fits into their every day life. Well first, it doesn’t fit into EVERY day life. There have been WEEKS actually that we find it hard to even return an email. For us, we decided at the beginning, and together, that the kids (the short people as I call them) come first. And second, its ever changing really. As their ages and schedules change, we change the time and way that we work. Right now, Kristen has one in elementary school, one in preschool and one at home. I have one in preschool and one at home. So…during preschool hours we many times have a “playdate” for the little ones…they don’t understand we are “working”…they are having a great time playing with each other’s toys and we use the opportunity to get some things done together. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect…and some days it works better than other days…of course we need quiet time to work as well…we find 45 minutes to an hour and a half here and there throughout the week…during a nap…a few shared babysitting hours…in the evening…on the weekend when our husbands are home…and outside of that..we split tasks and responsibilities so that each of us can work at home in other found moments on our own. Some of our best “meetings” have been during our morning runs.
Above: Here is Kristen’s old school (vintage?) Day-Runner…next toRyan’sBlackberry… Yes Kristen, the Day-Runner grew up! Notice the kids’ breakfast?
Some business’s do require more focused time and you’ll have to weigh how much help you need…you may need a few hours of babysitting and you may need a full time nanny. Even then, how wonderful to get to be home with them. You may remember I have another business (Savoir Flair Weddings) and I do have a part time nanny for the time I put to that business as I need to be able to make quiet phone calls and such. It all depends on the kind of work you are doing…I guess what I’m saying is that it’s doable…it always is…you just have to FIND the way that it will work for you. And it IS worth it. It is rewarding to do something for yourself and it’s important. If you just start chipping away at your idea stolen moment by moment…it WILL take form and you’ll find your way…I really believe that….The hardest thing is to START. There’s never a better moment than the present. Go for it.
Why do I not think of myself as a business owner? Instead….
I am a WOMAN business owner. Why? Because it’s important to me to define myself that way. Owning my own business allows me to be the kind of mom I want to be and still have a creative stake in this world. That’s important to me as a person. These days I find myself so interested in women owned businesses and the women behind them. We are all here for different reasons…some similar…but I feel like we are all saying “I can make a place in this world that is specific to me and my needs or my families needs…as opposed to trying to fit into someone else’s definition.” We had to work full time or part time….in the home or out of the home…have a career OR a job…be a stay at home mom or a working mom. I stay home and I work. Yes. I do. And it works for me and my family. And I don’t think I quite fit into the old labels. Just try to put me in a box! But I know I’m not alone. I love meeting other women in a similar stage in their life.
Last night I went to my first Smarty event (a resource for female entrepreneurs) (taught by Angie Rupert) to learn about social media …yes…blogging is part of all of that…so I went home and blogged! Yay. One goal accomplished. It’s a bit overwhelming to think of all of the sites Tin Parade needs to be on to get a footprint on the internet. We love creating parties and designing the items and being our own bosses…..but yikes…social networking? I can do it! I can. If that’s what we need to do to have people see our parties…I’ll Tweet and Facebook and Digg and all that jazz… I’ll just start chipping away…one baby nap time at a time.
