Apart from wanting to create *good products, a big reason for me wanting to create Jake & Maya was so that I could become financially independent, while still being able to be a fully present (working) mummy.
That’s a bit like having the cake and eating it, isn’t it ? Is it really possible ?
Financial independence aside ( I am still working on that) , some days it does feel absolutely possible.
On those days, all goes according to schedule.
School days – Wake up, get kids ready and off to school. Work Work Work. 3.15pm, Pick kids up from school. Mummy duties until 7/7.30pm. Work Work Work and sleep. That’s what a good day looks like.
Weekends – Wake up, family time until 7/7.30pm ( with a bit of sneaky work, while kids are busy playing) Work Work Work. Sleep.
Then something called school holidays happens and everything gets a bit topsy turvy and managing work, becomes a struggle and very little gets done.
With the best of intentions, I brought my laptop and a whole pile of papers and even fabric samples with me on our long overdue sunny vacation to Fuerta Ventura over Easter.
Glorious sunshine ! Yes, Finally !
Day 1 was all good. Spent most of the day recovering from the VERY early morning and uncomfortable flight with two grumpy kids fighting to get comfortable ON TOP of me on very narrow seats. This used to be ok, when they were babies but now that they are big 8 year olds, it was a bit of a squeeze to say the least. Husband had conveniently been allocated a seat away from us. ( Below picture is just a snapshot of what it looked like for a few seconds. The rest of the time, kids were fighting about who gets to be nearest to me, whilst trying not to fall off their seats.)
Day 2, cloudy day. Kids went to the kids-club after breakfast, so I thought it would be a perfect time to do some work but internet connection was bad, VERY bad. Tried logging onto the blog, wouldn’t load. Tried checking my e-mails, that also wouldn’t work, due to some server error. All that I could really do was to send a few messages to my team to check-in on progress. Then it was pick-up time for the kids. The rest of the day was going back and fro between pools, ( I don’t like having them out of sight in the swimming pool and there were 4 of them at the resort, so there was quite a bit of shifting from one place to another), lots of food and quite a bit of Cava. This went on until dinner time, and then it was kids disco until 10pm and finally we all collapsed in bed. Health Warning ! All Inclusive Holidays Are Bad For Figure and Health !
Day 3, How the kids can bounce out of the bed before sunrise, full of energy, I do not know. Again, like on the day before, I tried logging on to do some work while kids were in kids club. Again, I failed. It was so annoying ! There was so much that had to be done ! I was getting quite stressed out about it ! Time to pick kids up again. Went back to the room, to try getting some work done again. Still, nothing was working.
Then I thought, SOD IT and I put my work away for the rest of our holiday. We all went to the beach. The End.
Now we are back home and I can get things done again. HURRAY !
You know what, I am so glad that I didn’t stress too much about not working on holiday, because it is OK.
All is still under control. There was nothing that could’t wait a few days or a week, like I thought. My business isn’t going to collapse. My new collection will still get launched and fabulous (according to me and my team anyway).
I have realised this before but somehow almost forgotten, that in order for me to give my work everything, I have to first be able to give my family everything, even if it means that every now and then I have to “neglect” my business for a few days.
I hereby declare that I will from now on allow myself to take time off, so that I can maintain a healthy family life, as well as a healthy business. I promise to nurture, to love and to take care of both in health and in sickness. Amen.
PS. Even as I am writing this, I am still feeling a bit guilty that I took a few days off work but why ?! Why Do I still feel like I am not allowed to have a break ?! I guess it is the feeling that, if I don’t do things then nothing will get done but the fact is, the team is still working.
Perhaps I need to just re-visit some of the business advice given here.
Do you also feel guilty sometimes for taking a break ? Or is it just me ?!
I love all you readers, even if I don’t always show it. If you don’t believe me, then head over to Instagram and check ,as I am ALWAYS sharing things with you there.
*good products = Products that are well-designed, good for the environment, good for the people making them and good for the people that owns them.
Jake + Maya [Kids] Journal 
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