The Inner Workings of Mom Boss Life - Untamed and Uncut

The Inner Workings of Mom Boss Life - Untamed and Uncut

For your satisfaction, understanding, and collaboration, to rally all moms of every kind, for the common goal of raising awesome kids.

From full-time working mom to stay-at-home mom to mamapreneur, I’ve done it all and here I stand. What I love is that we all can stand together, united under one title, Mom Boss. Like all of you hard working moms, I’m in the middle of the hectic daily struggles with sweet little kisses sprinkled throughout. I hesitated to write this post because there seems to be so much judgment and stigma attached to whatever kind of mom you are, and that's annoying. It’s frustrating when moms cast judgment, searching to find the slightest speck in your eye. Crazy assumptions are made if one mom’s day appears easier, or less busy, than another. But haters gonna hate. And you just gotta shake.  No matter how you fill your time working, within the walls of your home or outside, no one is more important or better than another. We are all the same. All of us are working the same job, and that is being a Mom. Yes, parenting is work and motherhood is hard. Every career path we choose has pros and cons. They all present different challenges. Like I said, I’ve been through them all. But right now, this very point in time, everything in life feels like a big deal. I know, life is always a big deal, but that 's not what I mean. I'm talking about the open tabs we take on to earn an A+ in every area of life. My wreath company just celebrated its 2 year anniversary and now is a significant time of growth for me as a business owner. Meanwhile, I'm putting every ounce of energy I have into motherhood. So, I want to share my story, because I mean really, does it ever get easier? My goal is that this post will lift you up. I want you to see how great you are, even if that means reading another mom's story to know you are normal. I want to celebrate all of us moms and the different types of work we do. I want to tell you that you're on top of the world. You are the biggest and best example your children have. One of the main reasons I started to blog was to create more support in our huge community of mothers. I hope you find that here. I am just like you and we are all in this together. We all live for those high-five moments when we know we just succeeded, for a small second, at motherhood.

The Common Denominator 

Moms across the board share so many of the same daily challenges. We are all working our very hardest, inside the home and out. We are all second guessing ourselves and praying we aren’t making mistakes with our children. At the same time, those little eyes are staring up at us with hearts full of unconditional love, knowing we're their most favorite person on the planet and can do no wrong. So Mom to Mom, why am I not enough for YOU? Well girl, I’m here to tell you, YOU ARE ENOUGH. Every type of mom is enough. Enough for God. Enough for your family. Enough for your business. Enough for society. But wait, society doesn’t want you to think that. Society puts so much pressure on us to be perfect while we are continuously trying to meet a standard associated with the type of work we do. So, wipe that mentality clean right now because you are what it takes. You've already got it. God gave you what it takes to win this mom life when he created you. He gave you the perfect children He knew you could love and raise. He fit your family together. He blessed you with a circle of wonderful friends, a career, and a life you would succeed in. But, every once in a while, we need a reminder.

The Guilt

I know, it's not that easy. The guilt. It takes over. Are you working too much? Maybe. But you have to. Did you nurse, wait no, pump, from the office bathroom until your baby was 12 months old? I didn't. Are you home with the kids and choose to fold laundry over reading a book? Me, questioning if I sat on the floor with them long enough. Are you working from home while trying to entertain your kids? Yep. How does that work out for ya? It's doesn't. Think your kids deserve more than a working/distracted mom, trying to juggle everything? Hold up. You're working for them! The guilt will win if you let it. 

A little back story so you know where I'm going with this:

I was a Marketing Director. I remember working full-time with a toddler in daycare, a baby on the way, and a husband with a demanding travel schedule. I LOVED my job and the company I worked for, but it was HARD. I also remember working part-time with a full-time workload after we had our second son. Managing childcare was even more difficult. Family was helping out with the baby and our toddler was back in daycare. My husband was still traveling a lot. After a long day at the office, by the time I got both kids picked up from different locations, nursed, did dinner and bath, I was wiped. Well, technically I was done after the 7:15am second drop off. (My babies weren't always great sleepers, but whatevs.) Anyway, I couldn’t get them in the bed soon enough. The small amount of time I had with them was all I could barely manage. I needed a chance to breathe and sleep. Geez. What sort of life is that? Rushing away my time with them being so little. Uh, the guilt. I hated that guilt and I hated that schedule and how it made me feel. We had to make a change. I wanted more time with our babies and as a family we needed to calm things down a bit. Both my husband and I were raised with our mothers at home and that was important for our family as well. I left the corporate world when our boys were one and four. But even during those stay-at-home mom days, I took on several marketing projects because, well the guilt of not doing anything. I learned how to manage freelance projects and found there was still so much time to spend with our boys. We had to make sacrifices, but it was the appropriate change and the right decision for our family. 

My #1 Rule and Managing the Guilt

I figured out something early on as a stay-at-home mom. Many may disagree, but it works for us. It's an important rule I put in place 3.5 years ago and it's a rule the kids and I still abide by today. As long as our house is clean, we can have fun. It’s been a life saver! That keeps my husband happy, me happy, and lifts a lot of guilt and stress off my shoulders. It also teaches the kids responsibility and how to help out around the house. I know a messy home represents play. But, a messy home stresses me out and I’m a better, more relaxed mom when things are in their place. Now let's get one thing straight. I am NOT talking about deep clean. Yeah, right. It takes me forever just to tidy up every, single, day, multiple times a day. The boys help, but let's be honest, I may as well do it myself. I'm faster and it saves me from having to yell. Sometimes things slip. My floors are rarely mopped. There's dirt in the top crevices of our washer. But hey, at least the laundry is done and I don't have time to clean both, so there. Little boys make huge messes and that’s OK. I’m not perfect and neither is our home. These days, I get swamped with wreath orders and boom, the house is a disaster. But, I try really hard and I’m doing my best. And when my husband sees how busy I running my business and barely keeping up the boys, he gladly steps in to help. He is always my constant. He's always there. The minute I slip, he's already catching me and that's what makes a good team.

Mamapreneur: Running a Business

It only took 9 months of being a stay-at-home Mom for me to crave an empire. I wanted to build something for myself and provide additional income for my family. I started my wreath business, Gentle Breeze Supply Co. in the Fall of 2016. My company is named after my Indian Name, Gentle Breeze, given to me at birth by my grandparents. 

September 15th, 2018 marked 2 years since I launched my business and there are so many emotions that go along with this milestone. I am pleased. I am proud of my business growth to date. Most of all, I am grateful and appreciative. I have awesome customers, the most supportive family, loving friends, a network of small business owners, and the best tribe of STRONG MOMS who are always there for one another. 

2 Year Anniversary Fall Wreath Giveaway

Now that you all know my back story and a little more about my business, here we go with the daily struggles...

Mamapreneur: The Untamed and Uncut Version

I posted a raw, real life tired photo of myself trying to own the day - on my business page last week. I think every mom was able to relate somehow. Its real life and it’s honest. (But, so is everything I post. I just prefer the positives over the negatives.) But since you all liked it so much, I decided to elaborate on the topic and talk about the struggles it takes to be a Mamapreneur, which is why you're still reading.

[Social Media Post]

Here’s a brutally honest version of myself. This is me, drained. I don’t think I’ve caught up from my 18 hour days prepping for the Wreath & Wine Night last week. I’m not sleeping enough, getting my booty kicked at @sugarhillfitbodyboot , while trying to keep up with two little boys and be an awesome wife. We are switching our diet which has been loads of work. (Did someone say loads?? Dang, that laundry!) [More on the effects foods have on our children to come in another post.] My house is tidy, and I finally got caught up with organizing all the Back to School stuff, and I’m Room Mom, and soccer season has just begun. My littlest started Pre-K and that’s been a huge adjustment since he’s been with me as long as he can remember. My oldest is trying not to bounce on yoga balls made for sitting during cozy book time at school, and I’m trying to stay on top of your super cool wreath order requests - meanwhile creative visions of my own are spinning out of control. Oh, and those supply runs!! I could literally run errands every day gathering supplies, but I have a 2 hour window (between 4 carpools) to get everything done, and wreaths don’t make themselves! I’m volunteering weekly at my son’s school and I write social media content campaigns for Digital Monitoring Products. The only things keeping me going are coffee, jamming out to The Greatest Showman soundtrack with my boys, and the fact that the man of my dreams helped me create the most beautiful, totally ME-themed work-space so I could get this thing called Mom Boss in order. [Amazing work-space reveal coming soon.] I’ve got Gameday, Halloween, and Fall Farmhouse orders all coming up next! Thank you for letting me vent. I know all you #mamapreneurs get me! Sometimes life seems to move a lot faster than we can swim, and the tide keeps pulling me out. (Did I mention I love the ocean? Maybe that’s what I need?) Maybe I’ll blog about this topic when I can find time... 

This is Me.

This phase of life. The phase I’m currently lost in, looks very different than the one I was dominating a few weeks ago. I HAD it together. I was on top of our routine and knocking out those goals. The kids were were A+ing their way through and I was gearing up for Fall - my busiest time of the year for wreaths. But now, that tide is pulling me out and I can’t get back to shore. (I love the ocean and can always find a good analogy.) I'm fighting against the clock, stressed out and frustrated with this routine, can't seem to finish anything because of the choppy schedule, things are piling up, and I can't breathe. Just like yours, my life feels like a mess right now. Too much is out of my control. I don't know what I should be feeding my son right now because we've run into some food sensitivities. I don’t have a good grip on our new schedule. I feel rushed all day long, every single day. There are 4 carpools between the two of my boys. So, there's a small, but big enough, unproductive gap of time that surfaces several times a day. It's too short to go home, get any work done, or make a wreath. So, between carpools, we usually kill time at the park. That adds a nice amount of quality time to our day. We feed the turtles in the lake, play on the playground, jog, etc. I’ll remember that and I hope they will too. The alternative is going back to the house and getting caught up in doing nothing at home for a half hour. I just wish I could find a way to relax and enjoy that special time we have together. Most of the time I do, but lately, I've lost my mojo. I feel so distracted and stressed about the things I'm not getting done and that makes me sad. I want to focus on them. I'm trying to. But mentally, I'm all over the place. I have no balance right now.

So, what about the two hour window (3 days a week) when they are both in school? Yep, 3 days because I work at the elementary school on Tuesdays and our littlest is home on Fridays. That two hour window is spent running my business. It's hard to juggle everything, but maybe I can't figure my life out right now because there isn’t one thing I’d give up? I’m overwhelmed and that usually leads to an emotional me, but I’m so thankful my business of thriving (and so are my kids). I just need to pull it together and catch up. Whether I'm writing social media content or creating door decor, it's hard being a Mamapreneur. Wanna know why? There's no time to work because you're busy with the kids. The only available hours are from 9pm-6am. Who needs sleep, right? I know it's just a phase, but it's a hard one right now. The days are long. Or are they short? I don't even know...

Life is tough, my darling, but so are YOU.

I’m a glass half full kind of girl. Well, these days I'm trying to keep it that way. I live for the little moments with my kids, and family adventures, that we will cherish forever. I photograph those moments to help me remember the giggles and special times watching them play, love, grow and explore. 

Then, people judge. 1. Because the photos give the impression that life looks too grand. And 2. Because I have all boys. It's unreal and I’m tired of defending myself. So, this is for all of you - every kind of mom out there, because I know you have all been criticized at some point as we navigate our way through motherhood. Be strong. Do not let anyone shatter your spirit or take away from the life you've built and love. What they don’t see, is you awake hours before the rest of the house to get some work done, and busting it late night just so you can carve out that golden hour to take your kids to the park. You should snap a jpeg because those smiling faces are what the hustle is for. Those kids make it all worth while and that is the happiest moment of your day. It doesn't matter if it’s a quick family walk around the neighborhood after a long day at the office, or it’s rocking your baby to sleep at 2pm. Those are the special moments every mom lives for. We should applaud each other for making time for that. It’s so easy to get caught up in our to-do list that we forget to prioritize our biggest priority. These are the best days with our little ones. Babies don't keep, but you know that. YOU DO YOU. Do what’s best for you and your family. And remember to be kind and supportive. Our little ones are always watching.

Full Disclaimer

Trunk or Treat at Kohen's School, October 2015.
He had just finished up a full week of medical tests
and I was scared out of my mind.

As it sinks in, you may find it helpful to know that I'm super sensitive when it comes to time with my children. I don't like to share, not even with school. I'm never ready for the next chapter. I just can't seem to keep them little long enough. My heart explodes with love for my children. Our first pregnancy, we experienced a miscarriage. When Kohen, our oldest, was four, we had a leukemia scare. We also watched God’s miracle healing right before our eyes. We had been through weeks of testing and that same week all the test results came back normal, we watched the Petechiae on our child's body disappear, night after night, during bath time. We’ve been through some ups and downs, like many of you. So, maybe that is why I try to juggle so much - so that I can spend every waking moment possible with my children.

I ask you kindly, be nice. Please find a way to relate. Let’s rally the troops and win this Mom Boss Life.  You will see we're all doing an awesome job if you just take a step back and watch. 
We are all, the Mom Boss.