I had a chance to guest blog for a fellow mom on the life of a work at home mom and my first thought was how totally jealous I am that she has not only one but two precious little babes. I have always had a fascination with multiples, have always dreamed of having a set, or dare I say, two sets ::choke:: I think it would be pure bliss. And I’m sure as she reads this she will laugh hysterically and kindly tell me careful what you wish for! And I get it, I totally get it, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the love drunk idea of twins or triplets but there is this whole thing called REALITY!

Well here I am to offer that same concept and insight into the life of a WAHM. Sounds great right? Sounds like the best of both worlds, you get to continue to make money, have adult interaction, AND stay home with your beautiful bundle. You’re right, it IS great! End of post.

Ok not really… in all seriousness it is the classic double edged sword. I have blogged a little bit in the past of my duality as mom and business owner and it seems with how busy I’ve been lately that this is a natural topic of discussion. As I said, working from home is absolutely the best of both worlds and it’s also the worst of both worlds. Yes, I get to provide an income for my family, I get the confidence of knowing that I own and operate a successful business, I get the satisfaction and flexibility of making my own schedule, and I get to watch every moment of my kids growing up. However, in the meantime I get to endure complete exhaustion as I learn how to juggle 5 million plates in the air and oh the devastation if one of those plates drops! At times things can look pretty hectic and I’d love for you all to be a fly on the wall of my home. I offer you the following… a typical day in the life of mompreneur… and this is with only one small child.

Wake up, change kid, feed kid, coo and giggle with kid and realize I’ve missed 4 phone calls because I cooed too long. Get babe to sleep for first nap, begin opening business emails, start replying to most important ones while stopping every 10 minutes to play the pacifier game with the sleeping kid. Proofread emails 1500 times because I lost my train of thought playing the paci game and none of my sentences make any sense. Stop emailing completely because kid has projectile puked all over himself, wipe him off, put his bib back on him, and get him back to sleep. Get half of the emails sent, check voicemails and prioritize call backs. Start checking orders interrupted by babe waking up from nap. Feed babe, coo and giggle with babe, projectile vomit #2, time to change kid since we have a 2 vomit per article of clothing rule. Change my own clothes thanks to vomit.

Where was I??? Oh yes, put kid in Bumbo or Jumperoo and begin making business phone calls. Apologize to first client since I forgot to turn off the baby goo ga tone of voice when saying hello. Walk into the other room to complete phone call since Jumperoo is making monkey noises. Finish phone call number 1 promptly when child begins to wail from the other room. Take kid out of Jumperoo and move to Boppy with paci for another nap. There is a feeding or two somewhere in there. Continue with business phone calls and start pulling orders to fill while simultaneously scouting fabric options for custom clients. Head to the sewing room and start measuring, cutting, and sewing. Package orders as they are finished. Take a few calls when babe wakes from nap and try to maintain composure and control gag reflex in the middle of huge business call when babe decides it’s time to poop next to me during phone call. Change kid, find blowout surprise, wash changing pad cover due to blowout, and onto outfit #3. Look around at more laundry that has been neglected and pause to get that down to the laundry room and get accidentally sucked into the housework vortex. Make a bed, fold some things, put some dishes away.

Resume order processing, stop promptly realizing it’s 3:00 and the dogs have not been out to pee nor eaten breakfast yet. Almost faint realizing you’ve eaten no food yourself either for the day. Grab something from fridge to eat or steal kids half eaten leftover lunch, anything will suffice. Take care of dogs, answer random door visits from the UPS delivery guy, vacuum salesmen, church folk trying to share God’s message, or the neighbor kids selling butter braids.

Take various phone calls from hubby asking about bids or customer service or scheduling for business #2. Attempt to handle this follow up and emailing.

Remember that orders need to be packaged and shipped by 5:00 and somehow the day is nearly over, start frantically packing up orders. Realize why the kid has been screaming for a half an hour, it’s past his feeding time. Get bottle for babe, prop bottle with blanket (don’t judge people!), sit next to babe and continue packing orders. Urge child to eat quicker since it’s 4:45 and the post office will be closing in 15 minutes. Pack up kid and orders, rush to post office, get orders sent out phew!

Clean projectile puke off of carseat, replace bib. Ponder dinner options during the ride home. Stop for groceries for dinner and maybe the liquor store depending on how stressful the day’s events have been. Hubby gets home and gets kid duty, I cook dinner, then check personal emails and check in with family and friends. Submit various PR pitches, edit website, blog. Make list of things to do, orders to fill, and PR tasks for the following day. Head back to the sewing dungeon and crank out a few more orders. Head to bed awaiting the overnight feeding parties with the babe!

Notice you didn’t catch a shower in there… notice there was no teeth brushing in the agenda either, those are what we call “special treats” and again this is with one small kiddo. Things become undoubtedly more complicated as the kids multiply and get older, then we add in the school shuffle, lunches, breakfasts, laundry for MANY, sporting events, PTO meetings, dentist appointments, etc. It’s a wild world and not meant for everyone. It IS wonderful and it IS insane all wrapped up into one! If you’re pondering becoming a WAHM yourself I suggest getting in for some circus juggling lessons. Just kidding, I say go for it, what’s the worst that could happen, nothing ventured nothing gained. For us it’s been the perfect compromise for our family life. Just be careful what you wish for!