Purposeful Parent Tip: Time with Your Children is Almost Always Time Well Spent.
It’s back to school week in my house. My son began his sophomore year of high school today and my daughter started middle school yesterday. To say it’s been a hectic week would be an understatement. It seems that there’s always frenzy during this time, not only for parents but for businesses as well.
People are coming off of summer vacations and trying desperately to catch up. Others, filled with the prospect of a new school year, are anxious to jumpstart new projects before the ever-pressing holidays set in.
On the home front, my week was filled with trips to Staples (and more trips after purchasing the wrong items), and various clothing stores to find the perfect first-day-of-school outfit. (When will public schools institute uniforms?!) It was also filled with various tasks and projects from my small business marketing freelance clients. Now you all know how I feel about the word “balance” (in case you forgot, I don’t believe it is a worthwhile endeavor). So if you were a fly on the wall of my house this week, you would
see that my kids definitely had the upper hand.
As it should be, don’t you think? Yes, I had work to do and my clients expect that from me. But my children were beginning a new school year and they needed my support, my advice, and my wallet! So, I had to explain this to a few of my loyal clients and inform them that their projects might run a bit later than expected given the demands of the week. Guess what? They all understood and were willing to wait.
Not everyone is so lucky to be able to do this. Demands of either a corporate job or a small business can pull you away from things like finding the perfect backpack or making sure all emergency contact information is filled out properly. But I think to ignore our children when they need us is sending them a message that work is more important than their well-being. Is this the example we want to set?
There’s always a way to make it work if you want it to. Instead of closing up shop at 5:00 this week, it was closed earlier and many of my projects were completed at night. Other days, no work was done. That’s the life of a single parent and a mompreneur.
As I was waiting to pick up my daughter yesterday from her first day of middle school, I was talking to a woman who was picking up her granddaughter. We were commenting on how quickly time was going in that our kids/grandkids were in middle school. She was reflective in saying how different things are for kids these days as compared to her own children. I couldn’t agree more.
Kids grow up too fast and our time with them is fleeting. When you can put work on the back burner, do so. For it’s those few moments of seeing their little faces light up when they find the perfect outfit that will mean much more than a completed project. More than likely, your clients will understand if you just ask them.
What back to school challenges are you facing and what are you doing to overcome them?