At the beginning of the year, I deleted most of my blog posts from last year and started over. I had written so many posts based on what I thought people would be searching for, and they were lame. I didn’t want to have a blog full of how-to’s that I was not practicing in my own life. I didn’t want to have a blog showing the sparkly side of motherhood without showing the shadow side.
One of the old blog posts was about building a business during your kids’ nap time. It’s what I had done. It’s what I still do. And everything in it was true. If you had asked me a month ago why I had deleted that one, I wouldn’t have had an answer. But today I do.
Building a business during your kids’ nap time is not as simple as a blog post.
Last week, I took the week off from blogging to focus on writing my book. (Don’t get too excited friends, we have a long road ahead.) It went well for three days, but on day four one baby decided on an opposite nap schedule—so I had a whole day where one baby was always awake. On day five, our family got some heartbreaking news that zapped of all motivation for days, and here I am a week later and no closer to anything that resembles a book.
You can build a business during your kids’ nap time—at least the kind of business I am building allows that kind of flexibility—but the process is far from perfect. The process is slow. Because sometimes you have time to build the business, but sometimes you have to make doctor’s appointments, clean floors, and wash bottles.
You can build a business during your kids’ nap time, but it won’t be easy. You have to make sacrifices. You have to work first and fold clothes later—sometimes much later than you’d like. You have to make it about discipline, not motivation. No mother of small children has the energy to show up and do the work every day, but she does it anyway. You do it for your kids; you can do it for your business. It’s not always fun, but you have to have a long view.
This is hardly advice. This is a pep talk with myself. I have had weeks where the exhaustion took priority over the business I’ve been building, but I’ve come back to it.
I’ve come back to it because my kids won’t be little forever. I want to revel in their babyhood, but I don’t want to lose myself—my creativity, my copywriting skills, my drive. My kids will need and want things—elective medical procedures, therapies, cars, and college educations—and I need to be a part of making those things possible for them.
Being a mom is my most important job right now, but I have another job because I want more. I want more for myself—to keep growing, keep learning, keep doing hard things. I want more for the girls—I want them to see that they can build something that has a long-term impact on their family. I want the girls to learn hard work and sacrifice and that worthwhile things are—more often than not—hard. Easy is not the point.
I have talked to a lot of women over the last few months who tell me they don’t know how I do it, as though it’s something they could never do—run a business with two babies at home. It’s not for everyone. But I’m confident that anyone who wants to can do it.
I have to warn you, though…
You will cry because there are not enough hours in the day.
You will lose heart because the results are not what you wanted them to be.
You will be frustrated that nap time ended earlier than you planned.
You will feel like what you’re doing is ineffective and doesn’t matter.
You will doubt yourself and the whole process.
You will fall off with your consistency.
You will avoid what you know you need to do.
You will make excuses.
And you will get back up.
You will choose discipline over motivation.
You will get over the slump.
Your kids will grow more independent and your business will grow more profitable.
You will learn to manage more than you ever thought you could.
Your confidence will grow.
You will earn extra money that will free you up to do more of what you love.
Your children will learn just how much is possible because of your willingness to stretch yourself.
Build your nap time business, mama.
There will be good days, weeks, and months, and there will be not-so-good times, but what you and your little ones stand to gain will never be uncovered unless you go for it.