Summer Sanity

July 17, 2015

This week our guest blog talks about the amazing job us mums do, with the added pressure of balancing our workload during the school summer holidays. We can certainly relate to this one and hope you find some comfort in knowing you're not alone! A little tongue-in-cheek and raises some very valuable points about cherishing our time with the little ones despite our increased workload. So however you are planning your next 6 weeks, we wish you all the very best and hope your summer is filled with fun, laughter and lots of life affirming adventures!

"Summer is almost upon us – or at least the school holidays are…

I will try to conceal my look of concern and anguish when my little monkeys bounce around exuberantly reminding me of the next six weeks of chaos, fun and playtime at home (counterbalanced by them melting down into pools of tears and squabbles as end of term tiredness catches up with them).  

To some of us it will be the busiest and most challenging period of the entire year.  Whether your children are babies, pre-school or school age (or maybe you have feet in all camps as I do), we must somehow find a way to manage our working lives, our household and the countless other demands on us as young mums over the coming weeks.  I know that just occasionally there will be times when I’m going to miss dropping off at school, and gaining a few child-free hours to catch up on countless other things.

And I never thought I’d say that…  “I’ll miss the school run”.  Really?  Do I really enjoy a mad dash from the house with baby in arms, toddler not wanting to leave the house, eldest moseying around as if time is of no concern whilst I desperately seek out my keys and remember all the lunch boxes?  Not for the first time I’ve found myself at the front of a queue talking confidently to a teacher about this or that and glanced down to find that I’ve actually got my cardi on inside out…  Then to make things worse, I’ve spun around to leave, hoping to cover my embarrassment only to bump into fellow parents who’ve spent the last five minutes staring at a patch of white dribble down the back of my shoulder.  (Why are they always so immaculately turned out, accessorised, make-up done and all at 08:30?  And how come their children always sleep for 12 hours, eat their supper and have a reading age as good as mine?)

Perhaps you detect a certain amount of stress and anxiety in my words already but the summer holidays are almost here and yes I shall miss the school run!  I’ll enjoy the summer holidays – as we all will - but it’s a busy time and perhaps for some, the hardest of all as our busy Mum’s workload steps up once again.

All the while I will listen patiently to my husband when he gets home late from a stressful week keeping his business moving forward: long days commuting to meetings where he needs to look bright and dapper, difficult contracts to win, people to influence.  I will bite my lip when he talks of Saturday giving him the first chance this week for a lie-in on his day off…   And my smile will sometimes be over gritted teeth when he says he’s shattered due to lack of sleep having been up early to make the train.  But if these things weren’t done, I’d also struggle to do mine, as different as our lives and pressures can seem. 

I will try to fit my business life into a tiny schedule that doesn’t work to train timetables or meetings.  My commute will be down the stairs to the kitchen, sometimes at 3am when my cherubs wake in the night (slipping quietly out from under the duvet into the chill of the room, expertly tip-toeing in the darkness over the creaky floor-board so as not to wake him).  My appraisals will happen every day – perhaps not at the school gate or in the playground during drop-off for the next few weeks – but in the supermarket aisle, or in the local park pushing swings and by the harshest critics…  And I won’t have weekends.  Saturdays and Sundays are working days, just like all the others.

But this is life – and it’s my family.  Sometimes I’m tired, worn out and worried about how I’ll get everything done.  And other times I bask in the incredible happiness I get from seeing my little ones grow, learn and thrive.  However my ‘appraisals’ go, I shall be mindful of the special time when I can nurse and raise my little ones, and try to see past all the stresses and anxieties.

This summer as I face a spiralling workload just like you, I may have to accept that other things have to move down the list as I try to juggle all the balls.  I’ll be running my business as diligently as my little angels will allow me to - in between enjoying the precious time we have together to do all the thousand other things they no doubt have planned for me. I hope that the mornings will be less hectic, that I’ll grab a clean top next time I’m in a rush (and manage to put it on the right way around) and I may even have time for a bit of foundation or to check my hair before we all barrel out of the house on our next adventure…  

Or maybe I’m kidding myself?  Whatever the case I will try to greet each day with my head held high, as we all know we wear these little signs with pride that come from doing one of the toughest but most rewarding jobs in the world."

Stay tuned for further blogs this summer where we'll offer you some great ideas and activities for keeping your little family busy.

And for ideas on effortless dressing, check out our Pinterest boards for style & outfit inspiration using our fabulous nursing tops and dresses which are perfect for breastfeeding with ease and confidence, especially when out & about!

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