'I felt like I was missing the best of my kids each day'

 

Like so many other women that I know, I had a career before I was a mum. A career that I was thriving in.

 

I had the five-year plan: where I wanted to go, what I wanted to achieve, and what I expected to be earning.

 

Yes, kids were always part of this plan, but I thought they would fit in nicely with my career plans.

 

But then I had my first child.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed maternity leave with my first, and when the time to go back came around I didn’t feel ready to leave him. Thankfully, I was in the lucky position to be able to extend my leave up to 12 months.  

 

Then the actual time to return to work came around, and while I enjoyed being back in and having a focus that was just mine, it felt different.

 

A huge part of me just wanted to be with my baby.

 

 

Then came my second…

 

I didn’t take quite as long a maternity leave this time and returned to work early than with my first, but I had even more uncertainty this time around.

 

I just couldn’t shake the feeling I had gone back too soon.

 

It was at this point that resentment set in.

 

When I arrived home each evening they were already there, sometimes already in their pyjamas, and, having spent the entire day with the childminder, were tired, cranky and ready for bed.

 

I felt like I was missing the best of them each day.

 

I became increasingly unhappy and I felt I wasn’t doing anything to my full potential. So when the opportunity for redundancy came up, I took it.

 

It allowed me time to think about what I really wanted.

 

I looked at part-time positions but often the cost of childcare would not have made it worthwhile. Then, after a lot of research and soul searching, I came across an opportunity to buy a franchise that would allow me to work the hours the children were in school/Montessori. It ticked all the boxes and I loved it. I still do.

 

Then number three came along!

 

As a self-employed business owner I had no paid maternity leave, so I was back working within five months. I was able to go back working three mornings a week while my older two were at school, and I had the baby minded by a fabulous childminder.

 

Seems perfect, right?

 

 

Yes, it was. In terms of being there for the kids that is. However, it wasn’t long before I could see that my three mornings a week weren’t bringing in enough income.

 

Then, one evening, as I chatted to one of the girls over a glass of wine and fantasised about being able to generate extra money somehow, she interrupted me. She told me she knew someone who was doing just that!

 

I could hardly believe it.

 

So, here I am, already four months in and the difference this new business has made to my life is incredible.

 

I still get to drop the kids to school, pick them up, and be there to do their homework with them. I am still here to arrange playdates and with the good weather rolling in now, I can be here to take them to the park, get them out on their bikes, go for walks and watch them play outside with their friends.

 

I wanted something that would allow me to work around my kids, rather than the frustration and guilt of working my kids around my work. And I found it.

 

I wanted to let anyone in a situation like mine know that there are ways of having it all.  

 

Your solution is out there, waiting for you!