My life feels strange at the moment. With both kids heading off to school full time next month, I'm left with a sad kind of emptiness and although I know I should celebrate the fact I've had an amazing time staying at home while they were small and working from home, I can't help but feel a bit scared and lost at the idea of being alone all day.
I've been thinking about September and what I'll do with myself. To be honest, part of me just wants to spend a few weeks making up for seven years of crap sleep, while another part of me just wants to sit and cry and a tiny fraction feels slightly excited about the prospect of working more and finally having a little more money.
Since making the decision to stay home when Alf was a baby, we made huge cuts to our outgoings and got rid of anything vaguely luxurious. We've had times where I've sold things I love just because I knew they would sell and we needed the money to survive and although things have been slightly easier over the past couple of years, we still have to watch every penny and keep the luxuries to a minimum. I like the idea of feeling a bit more of a breadwinner again in the house as although I've worked since Alf was one, I've not earned enough to feel I was contributing enough and I'd love to spoil Adam and the kids a little more.
Blogging has been a total life saver. Having left my awful supermarket job due to illness, I managed to up my game with my blog, pretty much earn the same pennies each month and also get a LOT of perks that although I work for, I can do that work either from my laptop or out with the family. I've been able to review some great toys, house bits, beauty products I'd never have afforded and even bagged a few review holidays which was one of my all time blog goals. Having these little extras to look forward to or put a smile on the kids faces with has really helped me through these last few years and having thought about finding a day job for a more reliable pay, I think I need to give this working from home thing a good crack and see what I'm capable of.
I have lots of ideas with both my blog and my artwork. With both, you really get out what you put in and although my hourly rate would probably work out as peanuts, I enjoy every single minute of it, I get those littler perks every now and then and seeing the way it helps our family is pretty special.
One thing that needs changing that always fails me is my organisation. I'm the Mum scrabbling round cleaning a school jumper with a baby wipe at 8:45am, I'm the blogger that has to constantly write lists of what needs doing or I'll spend hours chasing my tail and staring at social media.
Although I do believe that some people are just disorganised and I am one of them, but I have to try and keep an up to date calendar, make weekly work plans and make sure I keep to some kind of schedule to use my time productively.
If you have any good tips for keeping organised with work/home life, pop me a message or leave a comment below. I need all the help I can get!
