Hi!

I thought it would be fun to share a little insight with you of what it’s like being a ‘work-at-home’ mum. I have a video link for you here today. I filmed one of my days last week.

I think people have the misconception that I’m a stay at home Mum and have a lovely hobby playing with paper. I’ve worked for myself now since my youngest was 18mth old, so that’s almost 14 years now and yet I feel I’m still not or rather my ‘job’ has never been taken seriously. It’s very frustrating at times!

My children were just 3 and 5yrs old when I met my husband. I had a wedding business that I ran from home. I had 8 members of staff working for me and a rather lovely brand new convertible. My husband earned a good wage at the time and I was bringing in over double what he was, but as far as family and friends were concerned. I was ‘making cards’. ( I still get comments from the inlaws now. I really think they have that idea that their son stepped in and saved us and did me and the kids a huge favour!!) That’s how the wedding business started out, making cards. I made cards and memory albums to sell and it went from there. As my kids were little I worked around them which would mean setting my alarm for 4am to start work and I would work through until often midnight, so I could spend time with the around school times, help read at school every morning etc… I tried to do it all. And yet I would still get asked by the Mums at the school gates every day ‘what have you been doing today?’ Or my worst one that I still get 14yrs on ‘You still making your cards?’. Really grates on me that one!

I was always the Mum that got asked by other Mums to collect their kids from school if they were working late or stuck in traffic, always the Mum that would get asked to look after other kids if their kids were sick and they needed to work, to have their kids during school breaks or inset days if they had to work. I just wasn’t seen as ‘working’. I think the one that got to me the most was a few years ago. I was sat with a couple of friends having coffee. One of the friends worked as a school dinner lady and worked Mon-Fri 10am-2pm.  We were talking about food shopping. I’ve always had to be super organised when it comes to meals. Food and healthy eating has always been important to me. I cook from scratch just about every night. For years now I’ve written a menu on a Sunday for the week and a shopping list to go with it. Not only does this save time it also saves so much money.

So my friend was saying how she shops every day after work and can never think what to cook and spends so much money going in every day. I tried to explain my system to her and her answer was ‘But I don’t have loads of time like you do’. I think that’s a lot of people’s perception when you work for yourself from home. Like you are on some kind of jolly.

The truth is, I work mostly 7 days and nights a week. If we go out anywhere, I’ve always taken a box of work with me. I work in the car (my husband tends to drive so I can work), I take work with me when I visit friends or family, I work in front of the TV every single night til I go to bed and even when we go on holiday, I still work every single day. I do draw the line at Christmas and Boxing Day, but being a Mum, it’s not really a day off is it?!

But I also wouldn’t change anything. I’ve always been there for my kids. They’ve never come home to an empty house, I’m here when they are sick, we have every meal time as a family, I’ve been able to help out lots at school when they were little and we’ve been able to afford some lovely holidays over the years which I never take for granted. And let’s face it….my daily commute is down the stairs, through the kitchen and in to my studio. How awesome is that??!!  (I do sometimes pretend I’m going to work and take a handbag with me and I leave it on the sofa in my studio… maybe working for yourself for so long makes you slightly bonkers!! )

I appreciate what I have and feel so so lucky to have found a way to earn a living doing something that I love and feel so passionate about.

So I thought it would be fun to film a video of what a working day is like for me. I may film more of these if they are enjoyed as the days vary depending on the week of the month and what I have going on.

Thank you for letting me share this with you and ‘high five’ to all Mums. No matter what we do and how we do it, we all deserve to wear that super woman cape!!

Lisa xx