This Spring, when my daughter, Annelie, was born, my husband and I could not decide who would get to be the stay-at-home parent and who would be the working parent.  For the first few months, of course, it would be Mom.  However, Dad wondered if it wasn’t possible for each of us to play a strong daily role in our daughter’s life.  We set about devising a plan that would allow each of us to continue working and pursuing our own interests, while also sharing all the duties of raising our family and running our household.  The plan became Kolbedesign, LLC, a boutique graphic and web design studio we run from our home.  My husband, Sean, spends his days designing cool web sites with breaks for diapering and tickles.  I spend part of my days courting new clients and drawing up proposals, contracts and invoices; I spend the other part of my days taking care of the house and baby.  While we work, Annelie naps or plays quietly and patiently nearby.  It sounds lovely and it truly is, but it is a lot of work to keep everyone in harmony.

Suddenly, business is booming and Annelie is on the verge of crawling.  The balancing act is getting tougher!  Some days it is awfully confusing and we aren’t quite sure who is supposed to be playing which roles.  We have set working hours, of course, and the idea is that one of us works while the other parents.  It sounds simple enough, until baby or business starts demanding more than their typical share of our time.  One day, for instance, Annelie may be teething and crying and carrying on and the next thing we know it’s time for dinner and I haven’t responded to a 10:00 a.m. e-mail, yet.  On the other end, we’ll have days when we receive multiple requests from clients for a new proposal and then a contract and then another client needs additional work finished by the end of the day.  By the time I look up from my desk the sun has set and it is too late to hit the playground.  Despite our best organizing efforts, the only day to day constants are the dishes to be cleaned, diapers to be laundered and beds to be made.

Where does one draw a balance in the ever-changing worlds of raising a baby and raising a business?  Each week my husband and I sit down to reassess this topic.  We call it a business meeting and we draw up a schedule for the coming week.  Our business meetings are a little different than some, though, in that trips to the local farm get a spot on the priority list.  We have found that in order to set a reasonable schedule for Kolbedesign, we must take into account the true goings on of our daily lives.  We start our workday a little later than most because we both love to play with Annelie first thing in the morning when she is most animated; our most solid working hours are 8 pm to midnight because Annelie is happily asleep and the house is quiet.  Our balance is found in honestly assessing our needs as a family and as a business.  The reason we started our business was to be able to enjoy the early years of our daughter’s life and to share the responsibilities of parenthood, including earning money.  It is only logical, then, that our business goals are our personal goals and vice-versa.

I have learned a few simple tricks from my baby that help us keep the peace and run our business smoothly.  The first trick I learned when my daughter was just a few weeks old.  She would cry and cry if I tried to sit on the couch, but if I got my lazy self up and danced with her, she became content and was such a pleasure.  In general I find if you put a little extra effort into the task, it tends to simplify itself.  This is true in caring for my baby, my self, my marriage and my business.  The second is a mantra of my grandmother’s: and this, too, shall pass.  When Annelie’s first teeth came in, her discomfort was a distraction for several days.  I was distraught at the business time lost paying attention to her sad, drooly face, but indeed it did pass and it gave me some perspective that can be applied to any time consuming situation.  One day that tooth will come in, the whining will subside and business productivity will increase.   When an issue arises that costs time or money, it is important to remember that in time it will be resolved.  Most importantly, I have found that keeping myself open to ‘what may be’ is incredibly important.   By leaving space in my schedule, I am able to relax and add to the schedule as new challenges present themselves.  Every day brings something unanticipated and rolling with the punches is the only way to survive.

If one judged my day from afar, they would probably not use “balanced” to describe it.  I am here, there and everywhere and each day is unique.  Some days are all business and some days are all about Annelie.  Each day, though, is all about me.  I am actively pursuing and achieving my goals of being an at-home mom and of owning my own business.  Although it is an astonishing amount of work to keep everything running smoothly, it is work that I very much enjoy.  I am incredibly lucky to be able to spend my days with the people I love.  In my heart I wouldn’t describe my life as anything other than balanced.

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Tags: Balance, business balancing, family balancing, free advertising, guest blogging, living my moment, Mom Entrepreneur, mom owned business