I have big plans for annmade and beyond, but I'm a full time working mom. I try to stay focused and write out plans of what I am going to do for the day/week in terms of creating products, social media content, blogging, adding items to my shop, etc and every day my plan gets thrown in the trash because when I pick up my son from daycare, work mode is gone and all I want to do is cherish the moments with him. He's about 16 months and so much fun. As any mom knows, there's more to it than spending time playing with them, its all the clean up, prepping of meals, cleaning of said meals, chasing them, changing them and keeping them alive. The patience and the energy you spend just keeping up with them is unreal. So every night when we get done with tidying the house and getting ourselves into bed, I plan to knit for a bit before I fall asleep and most nights, it's just lights out.
Recently it's been crazy at work, creating and presenting our annual business plans for 2022 with our wholesalers (biggest meetings of the year), on top of keeping up with the regular tasks and prepping for holiday season. I cover the whole state of Ohio and have spent more time away from home lately than any mom wants to. I hate missing bedtime, so I rush home after working a day out of town just to watch him play with his books before putting him to bed. I'm still pretty new to this mom life, I only have one sweet babe and I still struggle. I have no idea how so many moms out there work full time and find the balance to spend time with their kids, spouse, keep up with house and take care of themselves, let alone add a small business in the mix. Shout out to all the working moms out there, and the stay at home moms (that is a legit job as well).
As far as those plans for annmade, here is what's up next:
- take photos of inventory
- add items to shop
- create tags/pricing signs for upcoming shows
- restock packaging for shows
- keep creating knitwear
- post on social
If anyone has any advice on how to manage all the things you have to do with all the things you want to do as a mother, an employee, a spouse and a woman... I'll take it! For now, I will pour another cup of coffee as I switch from "side hustle" to legit full time job hustle. And here is a photo of my sweet truck loving boy before sending him off to picture day at school!
