I'm a New Entrepreneurial Mom

I've had my head in baby land for a while now and thought it may be time to venture out of the office and house to meet other moms in business. I just joined a new Women's Business Networking Group call Entrepreneurial Moms. http://entrepreneurialmoms.org/EM_Home_Page.html I should have a profile there soon-hopefully by early June! I'm also looking forward to their Mommy Fair June 12th.

I went to my first event last week and thought it was both inspiring and fun. I felt like my plate is pretty light compared to some of the moms juggling multiple children and both growing &/or thriving businesses.

As a short aside, the event refreshed my memory on the never ending debate over whether or not to use DayCare/DayHome/Nannies, and I am sure there will always be strong opponents for both. I still prefer my days with Scarlett too much to give them up, although some days I think a few afternoons or mornings off could be very nice.

The meeting made me face the fact that we have been lucky to just "coast" through our days. (It never feels like we're coasting, but that I have piles of work to do that never quite get done.) But when compared to a new business that requires as much attention as a newborn baby, or an established business growing into a new market, maybe we do get to coast a little.

What did I learn? We had an excellent presentation by Wanda McArthur of Luscious Bags on the many hats that moms wear (both in business and life), and how we need to find what makes our life feel complete. One of our exercises was to reflect on our plans for life &/or business for the next 5 days and the next 5 months. That was challenging enough for me.

But then, how would that change if it were my last 5 days or last 5 months?

It is a challenge to balance how we spend our days. If the next days were my last, I would choose to spend them with family-those close and far away. If I still had my 5 months, my first thought is that I still want to travel and see more of the world and of course all those other things I still want to do! But we don't know if these are our last 5 days or 5 months.

The discussion at the event made me consider the example we give to our sons and daughters by the choices we make to stay at home or to work at our businesses or for others. For moms who stay at home and love it, that's an easy answer! It is probably the hardest but most rewarding job of all. But staying at home out of sacrifice is not the answer. And working at a job just to bring home a cheque is also not an answer. The last two choices lack the example that a parent can provide her children of finding or pursuing our passion and living a fulfilling life.

In case you can't tell, I can't quite decide what example I want to leave for my children. I want to be a great, loving mom and raise confident, happy, productive kids. But I also don't want to be the mom that was just there in the sidelines of the photos. I want to be someone that my kid(s) can be proud of and be inspired by. I won't get that by coasting, will I? It feels like it could be mission statement planning and vision board work coming up again soon!

How would you spend your last 5 days? Or your last 5 months?