When the ball dropped and the year turned from 2016 to 2017, I made a few resolutions to myself and
immediately started brainstorming my thoughts of how I was going to implement each of them successfully.
The one resolution I made that was really important to me was to start enjoying daily life just a little bit more... by being more creative each day!
With that, I believe, will come feeling more fulfilled in my daily life. To me, that means scaling back a little bit with the daily grind of work, and using that extra time to be more creative. Whether it be me working on more DIY projects around the house, playing around with my Cricut machine or maybe ;) starting a blog that will be a written form of all the things I love in life...being creative, in any sense of the word, is an outlet for me! It's relaxing.
But more important to me than being more creative, is spending more quality time with my family- being more present in their presence. Yes, I'm very fortunate to have a business that allows me to work at home, while staying home with my daughters. However, while I'm with them all day/night,
it's not a lot of true quality time with them- and that's hard to admit! Working from home, for me, is a constant juggle between being a mom, a wife & being a small business owner who is trying to keep their business running smoothly. I want to be able to do everything equally well. But I'm not sure that's realistic. #thejuggleisreal
From the time I make the girls breakfast until way after they go to bed, I'm on my laptop responding to emails and inquiries, sending customers invoices, speaking on the phone with vendors and customers, updating my business social media accounts, and of course, fulfilling multiple cotton candy orders in my studio...along with all the admin work that goes into it. After all of that is done, I pack the girls in the car to drop off all the day's orders at the local PO. Then, go home to continue where I left off. Fit {in between} the rush of my work day, I'm being a mom. I'm getting kids dressed and fed, teeth brushed, dropping off/picking up from preschool, driving to/from dance class, breaking up fights, nursing a baby, quickly reading books or playing games (so I can get more work done). My head is rarely 100% fully present when I'm in my girl's presence throughout the day...as well as my husband's presence at night. The time spent with them is weaved into my work day- I want it to be the other way around! It SHOULD BE the other way around!
As the days go by and the girls grow another month older, I'm realizing how quickly time is going by and how much I'm going to regret not living a more fulfilled life with them and my husband on a daily basis. The 4 years that have gone by since Brynley was born have came and went quicker than I ever imagined they would. Livia turned 3 on Valentine's Day and is already in preschool. Delaney is 8 months old, trying to crawl and it seems like I gave birth to her only a month ago. My husband is successfully climbing the ladder in the prime of his career, while also traveling quite a bit. It's important to me that I make the most of the time I have with my family while I actually have it!
I need to find the perfect balance in order to make the most of my time with my family- it's a constant struggle. I'm determined to stick to my resolutions this year and slow down with work a bit and spend more time on the things in life that mean the most to me; me being present in my family's presence.