Do you sometimes feel like your life is like a game of "snakes and ladders"?
Last weekend I did a post saying that I would be painting a dresser in my new workroom (unit). Well, that didn't happen as Miss P has been poorly and only returned to school today. Not Miss P's fault but now I am behind schedule on quite a few things.
The dresser is going to have to wait a bit longer whilst I devote some time to my new website. I have several more photos to take and am working on the wording of various categories, menus, products. As the website progresses, it raises new issues, ideas or obstacles I had not thought of. As I am a perfectionist, I want it to look just right so don't want to rush through it and at a later date regret not having been more thorough .
I have to prioritise but sometimes am divided between doing some sewing, preparing for "The Vintage Bazaar Fair" in Frome on 30Th April where I shall have a stall, working on my new website, continue unpacking at the unit, getting stock in, finding quiet time to just come up with new ideas and design them, keep up with blogging and so on....
I find it interesting to hear how other women manage to keep a happy balance between running their own business, keeping up with housework, making home cooked meals and spending enough quality time with their children (without relying on someone else to look after their child/children)
I admit to having sometimes recently felt like this:
However, I feel that once my new shop is finally up and running I will have a new regular & organised routine in place. This should help strike a right balance between my work and looking after my family.
I am going to work on the website tomorrow but on Sunday Alan and I have decided NO WORK!
We are going to enjoy some of that beautiful weather out there. I fancy going for a walk around the country lanes and hills nearby.
I will leave you with one of Miss P's omelette's. She absolutely loves making them and is very good at making them! Freshly made a couple of minutes ago.
I wish you all a really good weekend!
A bientôt!
Isabelle X
P.S: Don't forget to enter my Spring Book Giveaway if you have not already done so!
26 comments:
Ah I recognise that Snakes & Ladders board as one I had when I was little. Funny how I'd never thought about it but there was one picture I hated. Must have been at the bottom of one of the snakes and I can remember never wanting to land on it! Might have been the result of the boy falling off his bike. I was never very good with injuries.
Balancing? I have yet to find a working mum who feels they've got it sorted! Let me know if you do.
Ellie
x
Thank Miss P for her cheery omelette it cheered my up when I saw that picture - you have just describe my day!
Julie xxxxxxxx
I think you've earned yourself that lovely walk on Sunday! Enjoy it...and the sunshine too.Hope your daughter is feeling better now. :0)
I love your dresser it's so pretty :) hope you enjoy your day off!
Bee happy x
You sound like you have been stretched to the limit...but hopefully the end is in sight. I'm sorry to hear Miss P has been under the weather. Hope she is on the mend.
Wonderful omlette...it is making me hungry! Have a wonderful time with your husband on Sunday!
XO,
Jane
As an old stay-at-home Mom, who never worked, I don't know how you do it. And I am in awe of you.
But just you saying that you are taking some time off, this weekend, sounds like you have a very wise handle on your life.
Sorry Miss P was feeling poorly, but glad she is back "ship shape" now.
♥ Gentle hugs ♥
When I was a working mum it was hard enough to fit everything in, but to keep a happy balance when you run your own business is a completely different kettle of fish. I don't think many have it completely sorted, I think compromise is a wise word and not one to ignore. Good luck with everything, you are probably doing better than you think. Hope miss P is feeling better, she sure does a mean omelette.
Jenny x
I remember reading when Laura Ashley was starting her business her children were put to bed at 5.30pm and not allowed downstairs until the morning while she spent the evenings making tea towels etc…
I don’t believe there is solution to being stretched in different directions.
I shall keep popping back to see if anyone has the solution to a happy balance, I'm afraid I've yet to work that one out too. I'm sure that things will ease slightly once you're up and running but it will definitely take time. So looking forward to seeing the end result.
Happy weekend, particularly Sunday!!
Kate x
I prioritise and make endless lists, but even then I don't usually get to everything that need to be done, but I've learnt that Rome wasn't built in a day and of course now my children are grown up I have a little more time.
The dresser looks like quite a big job, but will look lovely when it's renovated.
Hope your little one feels better.
Snakes and ladders...yeh that describes life at the moment! I seem to spend all my time jumping from one thing to another. But I'm going to find some time for the garden...it always relaxes me.
Hope you have an enjoyable Sunday!
Hi, Here in Colorado, I had a game of Chutes and Ladders! It looks very similar to yours and my First Graders loved playing it on the 100th Day of School. Good luck on the balancing act. If I had my choice now, I would spend less time at my career and more time with my family. It will all work out. ♥♫
Oh Dear Isabelle, What a week you've had, poor thing! So glad to hear that Miss P is on the mend again - tell her "well done" on that marvellous omelette - looks fantastic! Life certainly is like a game of snakes and ladders - the ups and the downs; I like to think of it as seasons in life, and I have found it helpful to remember this well-known verse from Ecclesiastes "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven" which then goes on to list those different seasons (which have been so famously immortalised in that song!) - but what is lesser known is the verse later in the passage which says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time". The fact that you are even worried about your time priorities is a good thing as you clearly see the value of your solid home foundation with your precious family; and it's so wonderful that you don't want anyone or anything to rob you of the precious years you have with your dear daughter. The world can wait (yes, and even us, your blogger friends!) for your beautiful painted dresser, and for your wonderful new web site, and we would rather wait for that knowing that the privilege of irreplaceable time has been invested in and enjoyed with your dear family. Your lovely dresser and wonderful new web site certainly will be "beautiful in its time" ~ but that time may just be in a little while :-)! Thank you for sharing the struggle that is so common to all of us ~ you are such an inspiration! With loving thoughts, Brenda xo
i sooo feel like you, im setting up an online shop...ive been collecting vintage and little treasures for a while now and also busy making and drawing and getting pro' cards printed...when my daughter starts big school in sept full time rather than the two days pre school i can get my brain focused and work hard to make a success- its exciting but at the same time daunting!.
its trying to make a happy medium of mum and work ;0)x i dont think it will be easy...but lifes a challenge i guess.
good luck with it all isabelle, i wish you very much the success you sooo deserve ;0)
thank you for such kind words on my blog. by the way that dresser is soooo beautiful- makes me giddy in excitement hehehe x
x kazzy x
Hmm, not sure about the omlette thanks, but I am definitely going to plan a weekend in Shepton Mallet this year - seems like that's where all the vintage action goes on!
Life is like that sometimes its maddness, but all worth it in the end ;-) enjoy your weekend, dee x
Hi Isabelle,
Last night I wrote a long comment to you, but then it didn't seem to want to publish, so I had to give up grrrr...So I'm trying again, but don't have much time this morning!
I must admit that I am only just finding a little extra time to do the things that I need to be done, but that is because my girls have almost all flown the nest. We never had childcare for them, so it has meant that I have had to wait until now....I am often shattered, so its still hard - And I guess there really is never a right time for women with a family.
I used to find that running my on-line shop and website was a full-time job...I am beginning to realise that a physical one is slightly less work, in that I can close if I want to, whereas the website is open to the world 24/7. (And believe me, some people expected me to be answering emails at all hours!) I reached burn-out about two years ago and almost made myself very ill. Don't do as I did, pace yourself, don't push yourself to the limit, enjoy your family (they are young for such a short time) and enjoy what you are doing, otherwise, what's the point?
Finding suitable stock is a lot of work, and of course this can be combined with family/couple time, but its the making of items to sell that is lonely.
I have to say that I am far happier now than I have ever been, so I would recommend the lifestyle (even though there's no sick pay, or holiday entitlement! ;-))
I know you will make a success of your business and I wish you lots of luck. I think a walk on Sunday is a very good idea - Enjoy it with your family and don't think about work! ;-))
Have a lovely weekend and look after yourself Isabelle.
Glad to hear Miss.P is feeling better, take care,
Niki x
Life is certainly a juggling act and keeping all plates spinning at the same time seems an impossible task sometimes. I do hope Miss P is fully recovered and you all have a restorative walk in this beautiful Spring weather.
Love
Michele x
I find that most of the time I climb up snakes and end up falling off the ladders heheheheh
Hi Isabelle
Sometimes life is full of 'one step forward, three steps back' ~ especially when we juggle family life and working life. It will all be worth it in the end I am sure, and your new website will be very successful ~ your hard work will pay off! Look forward to seeing you in Frome!
Ali x
I hope Miss P is feeling better now. Of course you can do it all - you are a female!! Enjoy your walk tomorrow.
My life is a constant game of snakes and ladders Isabelle and juggling is something I do constantly. I always feel guilty that I am not doing things to the best of my ability (I too am a perfectionist). A friend remarked today that she is amazed at how much I do today and yet I feel so bad that I don't do enough. You just can't win.
Enjoy your day off you guys, you deserve and need it xxx
Yes sometimes I feel just like that!
But today has been very productive! Now that omlette made my your Miss P looks amazing. Happy weekend...enjoy the lovely weather and your family. xo
I also had that snakes and ladders board - I use to play with my grandma and she used to make me laugh so much when she ended up on the big snake which almost took you back to the very beginning from the finishing spot!
I wish you all the best with your new venture. I'm sure that it will go very well for you.
Hope your daughter is better soon!
June
At some point, everyone thinks their life is like a game of snakes and ladders.
Isabelle, I always feel like this so can relate. I do lists and try to think of the top three things to do that day and make sure I do them. I just have to accept that my house is not always going to be gleaming and I have to stay away from the computer as it's such a time suck. If I think of any more tips, I shall let you know. Racing to get Daisy to bed now :) Down the ladder I go! xx
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