Overall, life is good! It's just as exhausting and exhilarating as I thought and hoped it would be. The hardest part, by far, is the amount of time that I'm away from my children. I have always been a working mom, but the business spills into every moment of my life whether I am physically at the shop or not. The first month or two I justified it as a normal part of starting a business. But as summer vacation passes me by I have decided to take back at least a portion of my life with my kiddos.
I've done a lot of calendar management, hired another instructor and other administrative things to limit the cake-shop spillover into my home time, but my favorite change comes once a week. Every Saturday at 4:00pm I close the shop, turn off my phone, computer and my brain. The kids and I have instituted Saturday night camp-outs at our house where we build a fort in the living room, eat popcorn (or any other treat, but NOT cake!) and camp out in the living room all night long. I wrestle with my boys, dance and sing with my daughter and just try to be present with them...without multi-tasking. I listen to them. I look at them. I tickle and hug them...and I look forward to it all week long. What started as a special treat on Saturday night has become a tradition that is followed by cinnamon rolls and church the following morning. It's my time to reconnect with my kids before Monday comes. Life will only get busier when school starts in August, but for now at least I have my weekly date night with my kids...and I wouldn't trade it for the world!
