Yes I am one of ‘Those’ Mums

Before you judge me as I sit there at the park with my kids who are running around jumping and climbing everything whilst I am on my phone, please know and understand why….

I am a mum of 2 highly active kids (who also feel that sleep is incredibly overated).  My husband works so hard to support our family and is very rarely home when the kids are awake (6am-7pm 6 days a week). I also run my own little business, help out with my hubby’s business and also work 2 casual jobs.

Unfortunately I do not have any help or time out as my family live too far away, I do not have a cleaner, nanny’s or rely on the TV to babysit my children. Although I do admit to the use of ABC2 when I need to catch up on some washing or prepare dinner. When I am at home I do not sit on my phone or computer and try to work when my kids are around as I try to be a present mother. So for that little bit of time each day where my kids need to run off that extra energy with the stimulation of fresh air, social interaction at a park, I also need a bit of time out.  My kids are now old enough to play on their own and I encourage independence for their own development. Lazy mother you might call me but I can’t always be there to hold their hand and tell them which foot to put in front of the other to climb. I still watch them and push them on the swings, but I also might be on my phone so I never ignore them or never turn my eyes completely off them.

In that brief time (or time out) I have at the park, I need to check my emails and speak to suppliers that only work business hours, follow up and return calls, respond to customer messages and some business research. I might also sneak in a bit of facebook to catch up with people I don’t get to see that often. Yes maybe some of this can wait till the kids are in bed asleep but unfortunately I don’t think people would appreciate calls from me at 9-12pm at night.

There is such a huge expectation and pressure that’s put upon businesses to respond asap which is hard when you are working from home and around non school age kids. Most nights Im still up past midnight working just so I can be a ‘mum’ during business hours. This is my choose to work those hours and I never complain about it.

So yes I am one of those mums at the park on the phone sometimes so please don’t judge me for that brief time especially when you have not seen me be a mother to my kids 6am-7pm every day.