...and give the flow a good list, plan and push, let's be honest. Pic @happyhandshappyheart
I'm not professing to be a blogger or writer, but I want to get down some kind of thoughts about stuff. With less than a week to go before the first event, everything is in a list, which feels like an achievement! Starting work at the same time as launching We Got This (sometimes) feels like a crazy thing to do, but if I didn't do it I would get absorbed into work again and never do a side hustle, so I guess I should have expected it to be a mad juggling act! Making the transition from maternity leave to work, whilst my husband starts a new job, we just moved house and the children started new childcare has been tricky but the reasons why it is tricky are different to what I expected:
a) I am much slower getting anything done round the house since my baby started crawling, he is EVERYWHERE. He is also making it known if he is displeased about being moved / doors being shut etc. He wants to play with all the things that are not toys. I had forgotten this stage.
b) Getting stuff ready for two children for pre-school and nursery feels like a new job in itself. I am not used to term times, being asked to do stuff (found a letter from the school from two weeks ago, so accidentally missed some asks), getting out of the house in the morning without losing my rag is rare, making packed lunches for the baby and it probably isn't actually that much but it feels like a big thing!
c) Expectations vs reality. I have a fabulous weekly structure (I hate routines but I get that we need it), and tasks are stacked like jenga bricks to meet deadlines, and then illness strikes, childcare is a no-no, and it unravelled very quickly! Doctor appointments, house was carnage, disrupted naps, disrupted nights. I did get the basics done but it did feel like Motherland was being channelled into my home. I’m becoming more accepting that it’s me that needs to sacrifice my evenings / weekends to make up the time lost to sickness but it's hard!
So I have been talking in my head a lot, muttering about how on earth am I meant to do this, is it normal, and the biggest revelations have happened this week, which has stopped the muttering (hopefully for longer than a few days)!
1 - The Help...I hate asking for help, I feel that I ought to be able to do everything myself, and if not myself then between my husband and I. My husband is away a bit over the busy launch period which isn’t ideal as I probably should be doing more stuff for the business. The amount of help I'm getting from my family and friends and newly met people and strangers is incredible for this little business and all in different ways. I'm feeling very lucky and women-helping-women is very very apparent. And my dad! He is coming to look after the kids on Tuesday, and is being very nice and calm about it all (while I conjure up all sorts of scenarios:-0).
2 - The Menopause. Yes a bit off beat, but I saw a video and it made this think 'whaaaat hang on a sec! I thought things are going to get easier when the kids are bigger but then this will happen! Perhaps I need to try and enjoy the here and now more!' Bit of an eye opener.
3 - The Elderly. A whole topic in itself, I am lucky enough to have grandparents still, however they are having a few struggles with health and it has been a reminder to look outside the small children bubble as well as a realisation to enjoy the kids now (as much as possible).
It's getting late and I don't want to be blasé and say things don't matter, but for me, this week, I've had a different view which has transformed my outlook. Hope this helps someone else who may be stuck in a rut and feeling low / like they have taken on too much!
If you are coming on Tuesday, look forward to seeing you! X
