Dear School Year, please start soon. Love, Mompreneur

 

Dear school year, please start soon. Love, Mompreneur

This summer has been the hardest for this Mompreneur because my little ones want to GO, GO, GO!  Last summer was a bit easier because one of them was only two years of age, and wasn’t interested in too much.  This summer with a three-year-old and an almost six-year-old who want to run around until they drop from exhaustion, this Momma is tired and ready for them to go back to school! 

From the moment, the kids get up in the morning, they immediately ask, “what are we doing today?”  A lot of planning goes into keeping these kids occupied for the next 10 hours and it becomes another full-time job.  Oh, did I mention that I also own two companies that require my full attention also.  Yes, it has become a juggling act this summer requiring some careful planning on my part so I can get stuff done for my businesses, while keeping the kids occupied. 

Now you are probably thinking that I should have put them in camps, scheduled playdates, hired someone to watch them, or spent more time with their grandparents.  I have!  We have done everything under the sun to make sure these kids have had an amazing summer while trying to also make sure I can get all my work done.   But the struggle to juggle is starting to wear me down, and if school could start soon, I would be super thankful. 

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The truth is, mompreneurs still struggle to juggle work and family even when the kids are in school.  I know this because I have a lot of Mom friends who have their own business, whether it is direct sales or service based, and my own experience.  Is there a good balance of work and family so everyone is happy including Mom?  I want to share with you some things that I have been doing this summer that may help the next week or so until your kids go back to school:

  1. Get up early! It is not always easy to get up early in the summertime, but those two to three hours of quiet time will help you get so much work done. 
  2. Set up playdates or time with the grandparents. Mark this time on your calendar, so you know you can schedule appointments or get work done. 
  3. Mark your kids on your calendar as appointments. Yes, I said it but you need to do it.  I take appointments constantly from clients but I am careful not to schedule them when I have “kid time” on my calendar.  It gives me uninterrupted time to spend with the kids, and not have to worry about whether a client is going to call in the middle of it. 
  4. Take a day off from your business, especially if you work from home like I do. I usually give myself Monday off.  Why Monday?  Well, my husband is home all weekend so he can easily take the kids for a few hours while I get some work done.  With working on Saturday and Sunday, I feel like I deserve Monday off. 

I have been implementing these four things all summer long and it has really helped us get through the summer, but I am ready for them to go back to school.  There is a sense of accomplishment for me when the kids are school.  Like so many moms, I get so much work done when I have that time for me and I feel balanced and happy.  I love my kids so much but I am looking forward to feeling balanced again!

Love,

Mompreneur

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Mary Yohannan
Mary Yohannan lives in the Baldwin-Whitehall area of Pittsburgh. She moved to Pittsburgh over 2 years ago with her husband and 2 beautiful children. Mary owns her own travel agency Life is Better Traveling™, LLC which has helped hundreds of families take amazing vacations to Disney®, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska, and all over Europe. She is also the founder of the Travel Agent School Supporting Learning and Education™ or T.A.S.S.L.E, which has the How to Become a SUCCESSFUL Travel Agent program™, a one-stop, all-inclusive program for someone who wants to become a Successful Travel Agent. Mary earned the distinguished honor of the Certified Travel Associate (CTA) through the Travel Institute in 2016, and has several other travel and tourism certifications. Mary has traveled to over 20 countries on 3 continents, but it wasn’t until she had children did she learn that traveling with little ones is a completely different, and sometimes challenging, traveling experience. Mary’s authentic passion for travel and traveling with her children has given her extensive knowledge on the best tips, tricks, and hacks to keep kids calm, entertained, and well-behaved while traveling. She posts a variety of travel tips and tricks on her highly coveted, High Content Life is Better Traveling website, but she has a lot of great advice on traveling with kids that she can’t wait to share with all those amazing Pittsburgh Moms.