When One of the Balls Drop

When One of the Balls Drop

As a small business owner, I wear all the hats.  A one-woman show, and every other cliché that you can think of when everything depends on you, and you alone.  Moms know what I am talking about.   

We keep all these little balls in the air all the time, while we juggle our jobs, kids, families, passions.  And when we get sick, balls start to drop.  And because we are so used to and adept at multi-tasking, every ball that drops makes us drive ourselves harder and harder. 

We need to stop it.  We can’t possibly do it all.  That is why support systems and contingency plans are so important.  A lesson that I learned the hard way over the past couple of weeks while stuck in bed with the flu.  After several days of beating myself up for not being able to keep up, I started listening to my body to rest and recover.  I was doing myself no good denying that I was sick.  There was no denying it. 

So I gave in and let myself be sick, realizing that drive and ambition and a quest to make my business a success had taken over my life.  Those things are important, don’t get me wrong…but not at the expense of taking care of my health with just the basics.  Getting enough sleep, exercising, and self-care.  I had let keeping all my “balls” in the air take over, working into the wee hours and pounding back coffee when I was up early in the morning to start all over again.  And my body finally said “no more.”  And put me on my proverbial ass.

So here I am, 2 weeks later, well rested for sure – drinking tea with breakfast while I put out the little fires that cropped up over the weekend.  And I am also taking the day to work on putting systems into place so that my work load is better managed for when I cannot be in the office.  There are so many tools out there for social media management, inventory management, accounting, even shipping that can help us one-woman shows to keep all those balls in the air.  Without knocking us off our feet.

So use those tools.  Free up your time and your sanity.  Take care of yourself and your health so you don’t have to learn the tough lesson that I did.  But if one of your balls does drop, let it drop.  You can always pick it up later.   

WAHM & Summer Vacation

WAHMs & Summer Vacation

It’s April.  And suddenly it’s time to figure out the kids’ summer activities.  Now, if you are like me – April seems way too early to be thinking about summer at all.  But when you are living in a state where school lets out in the middle of May…basically you need to suck it up and get to planning.  So coffee in hand, I began to sort and sift through all the fliers for swimming, martial arts, extra reading help, summer school, etc.  So many choices.  

As a work at home more, or WAHM, the challenge is to add value to my kid’s summer, making sure she is engaging with her peers, learning a little something, and having fun…but also getting her out of my “office” for a while every day can be daunting.  You want them to be busy – but you also want to make sure they are getting a good rest from school to refresh.  

I’m a mom, I love my kid.  But as any WAHM can tell you, having a small child underfoot in your office for months at a stretch is a little like trying to knit a sweater while sitting on one hand and also dancing.  While blindfolded.  My daughter is at the age where she is extremely curious about what I do – but it’s not as easy to explain in a way that a 4.5 year old will understand.  She really WANTS to help, and I love that about her.  But her help isn’t always so helpful when you have weekly deadlines that have to be met.  

So my goal has been to find activities for her 3-4 days a week during her summer vacation.  So far I have tackled an early reading/phonics course which she is really excited about since she loves books and being read to.  And also Tae Kwon Do because she wants to learn martial arts like Daddy.  And because I am from an ocean state, I am trying to find a tots swimming class that doesn’t require me to get up at the crack of dawn.  Because I think every kid should learn to swim and learn to swim early. 

What about you, readers?  What classes/activities do you have planned for your kids this summer?    

    

April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s Day

In honor of today, April 1^st, otherwise known as April Fool’s Day, I would like to take the opportunity to pay homage to my favorite kinds of fools.  Now, you might be thinking that is particularly mean or spiteful, so let me explain.  The definition of fool is so vast and varied, but most people only focus on the simple, and rather negative description (from Wikipedia).

Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to:

• A bouffon, a clown, a harlequin, a jester

Basically someone to make fun of, or take advantage of.  But for today, my favorite kinds of fools are no fools…they are simply varied and awesome in their own ways.  

  

1.      The fool in love -  Now, some of you may disagree that a fool in love is an awesome thing.  That if you are a fool, that love has trapped you or that it is unhealthy.  But I think that anyone willing to take a leap of faith in another person, with the rest of their lives in mind is the best kind of fool.  One that takes a chance, that LEAPS for happiness.

 2.      Fruit fool  -  An amazing dessert using berries and sweet custard or pudding.  And really,             who doesn’t like that?  It’s sweet and yummy and nobody’s fool of a dessert.

 3.       The Motley Fool – A great resource for financial advice for those of us that it doesn’t come    naturally to.  And way nicer to say than “Financial Advice for Dummies”.

  

 4.      The fool’s errand – We’ve all been on one of these.  Most likely in the pursuit of knowledge for a friend about the interest level of a member of the opposite sex.  Basically the first play in the best friend’s playbook and wingman bible.  And although we always know it will never end well, we always go, because that’s what friends do.

5. The Shakespearian Fool – And really, what would a Shakespeare play be without a fool?  A bunch of frustrated people, epic misunderstandings and esoteric language.  The fool brings the breath of fresh air, the comic relief to the play.  And thank goodness for that.

 

6.      The Love Fool – As in the 90s pop song by the Cardigans, because no matter where I hear it, my toes tap and my mood gets lighter, and I have to stop and hum along.  So love me, love me….

So this April Fool’s Day, I hope you stop for a moment in the midst of the traditional prank playing to remember that not all fools are foolish.  Some are just foolish enough for foolishness. 

Happy April Fool’s Day!