Now here's a subject close to womens hearts and highly emotive.
Now I'm a pretty old fashioned kind of gal and have always enjoyed staying at home looking after the kids and generally keeping house. I appreciate that I am in a very enviable position to be a ble to afford to. Before hubby and I married we discussed and agreed that my role would be as homemaker and his would be breadwinner. That's not to say that he is against me working but only as long as it isn't to the deteriment of the home, the kids and his self. He runs his own very busy business and works ridiculously long hours so he can't be expected to come home and start looking after the kids and doing housework. Seeing it written down here makes it sound very out dated but maybe I'm not very good at describing it. Any way it works for us though I appreciate it would be a lot of womens worst nightmare.
I've loved being at home with the kids and doing the mum and toddler circuit making new friends and doing all things 'mummy' Of course that's not to say I haven't had moments when I've wanted to run for the hills. In fact I have those moments about, hmmm lets see, once a month! But on the whole I wouldn't have it any other way.
So here lies the problem. I started my little business venture www.flossybots.co.uk more as a hobby than anything else just over a year ago. All that was involved to start with was going to peoples (mainly friends to start with) homes for a couple of hours once a week to show them some eco friendly, natural products that were generally little known ie mooncups, eco balls and crystal deodorants(see below) and that sort of thing and then take orders. It meant it got me out of the house for a bit and if I made a bit of pin money then that was a bonus. Well it grew from there really and I have gained a reputation as the local 'eco lady'. In response to customer feedback I launched a website (with hubbys help and money) to make reordering simple, though in truth most people still ring or text me with orders, and I expanded my range and invested some money into keeping many products as stock. I also have a couple of good friends who share my passion for greener households who do parties as well. I've been shown talking about mooncups at an eco party on the series 'It's not easy bein green' albeit fleetingly and do at least one party a week. All in all it's all become very time consuming and as a consequence my youngest is with a childminder for 4hrs on tuesdays and preschool two afternoons a week which makes me feel guilty and when I am with the kids I'm often trying to do too many things at the same time which makes me distracted and bad tempered with them (more guilt). I've been foul to my hubby lately (but that's another story). So basically I'm doing too much but don't know how to manage my time more effectively so that my time with the kids is enjoyable and less stressfull. A big part of me wishes I hadn't started the business till they were all school age. I love the fact that the business has taken off but also a bit resentful that it's success is at a cost to my kids happiness (probably a bit overdramatic but you get my point)
So in summing up I really don't know how working mums cope and they have my utmost admiration. The mums I feel desperately sorry for are the ones who have to go to work either because they are on their own or because their partners don't earn enouth to keep the family. My friend who is mentioned regulary on here (I do have more than just one friend, honest) has just returned to her job as a dental hygienist and relt so guilty after her first day back that the next day she treated all the kids to pancackes and chocolate sauce and Mc Donalds!
