My Tribe Is Out There!

So have you heard all the news lately that the very item created to protect you from sun cancer actually causes it? Yep…here’s a link. (the report is old but the topic has reemerged in the media recently).

Of course some of the worse offenders are the very sunscreens I use on my girls. And whether it’s true or not- the thought is there. I will be thinking every time I lather them in sunscreen if I am doing more harm then good.

Being the neurotic mom that I am, I immediately went online and searched out a sunscreen that is completely natural, still effective and won’t cause harm to my precious bundles. The next day I went to the only store in my area who carries the “safe” sunscreen and bought 3 bottles. Enough to last through the summer.

My husband laughed. I felt foolish. Did I over react? Am I letting my neurosis take over?

I went back to the store the other day to buy some groceries and guess what??? They are completely sold out of that particular sunscreen. Where they had a shelf full- now there is none. And you know what? I smiled. Because my tribe is out there. Those faceless souls like me who cannot stand the thought of  the slightest itsy bitsy possibly of doing  harm to their bundles of joy.

To my nameless faceless tribe…I just want to say thank you for being there. For making me feel I’m not alone in my neuroses.

The Entrepreneur’s Elephant in a Room

We become entrepreneur’s for various reasons. For some of us it was voluntary (we quit our jobs to pursue our dreams) and for some it was involuntary (when we are laid off).

There is a whole industry that caters to the entrepreneur and the sunny puppy love side to owning your business. I know I’ve written many posts about what a wonderful life it is to be an entrepreneur. And it is.

But there’s also the flip side to being an entrepreneur.

A side you don’t read or hear about often.

The dark side.

The hair raising, anxiety inducing 60-hour OMG weeks.

Instead we usually hear: It’s all flexibility and time off with the family.

And I knowingly drank the kool aid. After all I feel being a business owner is an awesome experience.

So I was a bit surprised by some reaction I’ve had from some fellow entrepreneurs about my taking a two week vacation this year…at once.

Without my laptop.

Unplugged from the mother-ship.

They couldn’t believe that I was taking 2 WEEKS OFF.

I didn’t realize I was doing something out of the ordinary.

Or maybe I’m talking to the wrong kind of entrepreneur.

We live and breathe and create our life and business around the “f” word (flow–balance is like that mythical one-horned creature we dreamt about when we were little girls. You oh so want it to be true and attainable but somewhere in the back of your mind you know it’ll never be).

And I started thinking….

Is this right?

Should I do this?

Is this fair to my clients?

Will my business survive?

What if….

But you know what, I owe my clients this vacation.

They deserve a VA who is happy, healthy and productive.

Just like I deserve to be a happy, healthy and productive person.

My family deserves a happy, healthy wife/mommy who isn’t on the verge of a meltdown trying to figure out how she can just attach a bottle of wine to her hip and feed it intravenously into herself.

All my clients have known about it since January. Any potential client I spoke with was told about it during the interview process.

For the last month I have reminding and planning with my clients about what needs to get done before I leave.

I also am planning out what needs to get done while I’m gone.

The stuff I can do ahead of time I am.

The stuff that can’t be completed ahead of time…I’m starting and will prep as much as I can.

And that brings me to the entrepreneurial elephant in the room.

For all the chatter about how flexible our life is, how we don’t work as many hours, how we are the master of our universe.

But are we really?

If I caused a collective gasp from taking 2 weeks off- how flexible have we allowed ourselves to be?

Did we really cut that corporate umbilical cord?

Personally I think we’re as flexible as we allow ourselves to be.

While my clients may not be doing cartwheels at the thought of me being gone for two weeks- they know they’ll be OK.

Things will get done.

Life will be OK.

This was intentional when I began my practice.

I am here to be of service.

But I am not a servant.

Sometimes You Gotta Suck It Up….

Last week was Nat’s Spring dance recital.

And it was a doozy of a 3 days.

Sunday was back to back shows- 7 hours at the theater, 3 costume changes and boy was I tired.

Then she had shows on Monday and Tuesday night as well.

All this was going one while I’ve been working 10+ hour days getting my clients squared away so things are pretty much done while I’m on vacation.

I complained. I whined. I was grumpy. Tired. Wondering what the hell made me agree to my daughter taking on such a time consuming activity.

Where was the “me” time. What happened to moving toward a more enlightened space where I didn’t hand every once of energy and time I have  to my girls.

Then I realized.

As a parent.

Sometimes I just gotta suck it up.

No matter the intrusion on “me” time.

No matter what else is going on at work.

Sometimes as a mom I gotta suck it up, take one for the team and be there with every last drop of energy I have.

Because when it comes down to it- that’s what a parent should do.

There  is no balance in life- only a flow.

And sometimes that flow goes out.

But there is a bonus to sucking it up. And it’s a biggie.

It’s the immense sense of pride and joy I feel when Nat took on a challenge and not only get through it with grace (as much grace as a very tired 8 yr old can muster) but succeed- granted I didn’t have these warm and fuzzy feelings in the thick of things – but like child birth in the end I forget about the pain and only remember the joy  : D

I Really Am Raising Kids and Growing A Business!

I am partial to my blog’s tag line.

It pretty much sums up in one neat sentence a broad sense of my life.

But it really hit home this week.

The end of the school year gets me reminiscing about the previous year. Probably because I’m always stunned that my girls are growing so fast. Every year I say I’m not old enough to have a  blank grader and a blank grader. This year was a whammy. A third and fourth grader. What???? How can that be????

It reminded me this time last year I was planning on slooooowing down for the summer. I was going to go heavy on taking time with the girls and status quo on my business.

It was a fabulous summer.

When summer ended I got sick for 4 months afterwards. And was forced to take it even slower. Hmmmm…. Then one day I woke up and realized my business has exploded (in a good way!). It makes me wonder if taking that time off and then getting sick was giving me the space I needed to create. I don’t think I would have had the growth had I not had that time.

This summer I have turned 180 degrees. While I am absolutely taking time to be with the girls this summer and a fabulous two week vacation…I am definitely focused on my business and fine tuning my growth spurt.

And so in preparation for this summer I’ve found myself raising my girls to a new level of independence.

I’ve taught my daughter how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave so I don’t have to listen to her whine about how STARVING she is and how she cannot wait 10 minutes while I finish up my email.

They wanted snow cones the other day and I was in the middle of working on a project. So from my office I gave them step by step instructions on how to use the snow cone machine (completely child safe) and make their own.

They were tickled…

I was tickled….

And then it dawned on me.

I really am raising kids and growing a business.

It’s not just a tag line.

I mean it!

It’s a super cool feeling.

Day 11: GNO (Girls Night Out)!

Brian was working late yesterday so what is a girl to do when hubby is away?

Play with the girls of course!

Me and the girls (Nat and Sam) started our night out with a pizza and then off to school for Open House and 2nd Annual Student Art Walk (we’re so hip in the burbs ; D ).

We arrived early and they helped me hang the art work from my art docent class. Then we headed to the library for the book fair where for the price of two books–I get my car washed on Friday by Nat ( a fair trade!).

Then when we went and toured their classrooms. Sam showed me her PowerPoint presentation and book  she created. Nat showed off her first official “report” on Polar Bears complete with a diorama depicting a Polar Bear eating a fish and hanging out with baby seals.

By the time we got home we were all tired…so we watched a little TV played a little DS and off to bed!

Now that was a fun Girls Night Out!