A Year On & Happy to be A Working Stay at Home Mum

Christmas is a time for reflection and on looking back over the past year and a bit, I'm hoping this post will serve as an inspiration to any new mums or mums to be about the advantages of being a working stay at home mum. I've been working from home for nearly 2 years now whilst still looking after our daughter and am so grateful for all of the benefits and happiness that it brings. That's not to say it's not without its difficult times and certainly not without a few challenges thrown in along the way to test you!

  My husband and I set up our business nearly 3 years ago with the intention of replacing my full-time job working as a Passenger Agent at Edinburgh Airport. We therefore planned and prepared ourselves for a period of time to allow business to grow and understood from the outset that it would be a while before we could begin to replace my previous salary. I have to admit I wasn't quite prepared for the enormity of the challenges that lay ahead. The idea of starting & running an online lingerie store specialising in bridal lingerie sounded great, I could choose when to work which would allow me to work around looking after our new arrival. It sounded easy; processing orders, placing orders, packing and sending between 9-5 and then paperwork, research & marketing etc could be done as and when time permitted. Hmmmmm! Combine this with a few sleepless nights, other household chores and the odd week of illness from a cold working its way around the family and all of a sudden you have a 'to-do' list as big as the till receipt from your monthly shop.

The other aspect I never really considered was that when our little girls routine changed, sleeping patterns, feeding habits etc, then so did my work routine. I've frequently been in the position of just finding a system and time schedule that works & then shortly after having to find a new method and switching things around to fit everything in. Our business has steadily grown and my husband spends just as much time working behind the scenes; accounts, website programming & optimisation as well as doing his fair share of household chores & parenting!

Now our little girl is a little older she spends a few afternoons at nursery which does help a little but life in our house is never slow and there's always lots on our plate, but a year and a half on being a full time mum I'm proud to say "It works". I get to see our little girl grow and enjoy so many special moments as she learns & develops, moreso than if I left the house to do a 40 or so hour week, and that's so important for me and so many other parents.

It's a great feeling working for yourself & building your own business for the future and I love the thought that I'm helping brides to look their very best on their wedding day. I get involved with so much lovely lingerie which has been a passion of mine which helps you get through the busy weeks and keeps the motivation high. It's certainly not for the feint hearted, so for any of Mums (or Dads) thinking of setting up business, going it alone and staying at home to look after the new arrival, be prepared for a lot of hard work & a few sleepless nights, but when you reap the rewards, it's definitely, definitely worth it!