Just Leave the Socks in the Basket! -juggling a business and a life

I would prefer if nobody mentioned to my kids that their socks are supposed to match. Our family was way ahead of the current trend of purposely mismatched socks that are now on the market, until I decided to boycott any colored socks in the house and resort to buying only white. We could have made a bundle off that new craze.  We were doing that for years. My husband has actually resorted to handling his socks on his own. That's how you get your husband to do laundry... don't pair his socks, dump them into a general household basket where anyone can wear them, and crazy he will be. 

I would say that the day I decided that the socks could just be left in the basket, never to be matched again, could have been the single biggest event that changed my life. I was heavy into attempting to manage a business...
and a household at the same time, and I went years under the assumption that it is actually possible to do these 2 things in a similar space of time…at least in the way you THOUGHT it was supposed to look...or the way that you thought other women had it handled.

My Mom was a homemaker and grew up in southern Kentucky, the oldest of 5 on a farm. It became a sick joke during my juggling act to attempt to run a household like she did. It warped my sense of reality. I'm just not my Mom. It's interesting now that I am in my 40′s looking back at how it came to be that my mom and I are so very different. I came to terms with what I am capable of managing, and what is important to me and not everyone else.  I am still waiting for my mom to catch up! We have graduated from bickering about it, but I am longing for the day that my Mom does not suffer over the fact that her daughter doesn't pair the socks, has her children make their own lunch, and requests that her husband pitches in to make dinner 2-3 times a week. 

I think I'm doing pretty good!   And I am 100% sure that you are too. The only difference really between how I was in my 20′s and 30′s, and how I have been in my 40′s, is that I am finally clear for myself that I'm doing a pretty damn good job.  I spend way more relaxed time now with my Mom enjoying who she is, how great she is, and all the things I couldn't see through all that suffering.  Why did it take so long for me to realize it only matters what I think?

It always seems to come back to how much we care what other people think.  You think that when you walked in your friend's house the other day that they weren't running around and stuffing dirty dishes in the dishwasher or cleaning up the dog puke ...from 2 days ago? Well, they were, and they fooled you. That is NOT what their house looked like an hour ago.  Real living means not caring sometimes.  I know you will care when it matters.  You'll care when your kid gets cut from the team and they need a hug. You'll care when your coworker loses a relative and you're there for them.  You'll care when your husband had a rough day and you pamper him. But we need to stop majoring in the minors. We are just not going to be great at everything, and to be honest I really don't want to be.  Just realize you are doing great and breathe.  

And no, this blog is not for or about Moms.  I just happen to be one.  This blog is about business ownership, getting started, staying started, thriving.  It's just a big fat misnomer that there isn't a bunch of other things that are important to us.  My husband also wants to be at every birthday party, softball game and spend some quality time with his (amazing, cute and wonderful) wife too, while he works at his craft and the success he strives for at the same time.  It's just the "manly" thing to do to look tough through it all and pretend it doesn't bother him to miss all the important stuff with the kids.  Men and women alike need both family and passionate interests to be whole.  And when you have both going on, it's not always pretty.  The ugliness of it is called LIVING. 

The better we get at our business though and the more money we make at what we love, the more it will impact the rest of our lives.  We're going to focus on starting up, getting better every day, and creating a passive income so we can get done done done with the long hours.  A part time or full time business that generates passive income will allow us to pursue all the things we are passionate about...and maybe hire that maid to sort the socks.   
You are better than you think.  You are more than capable.  

Welcome to StayStarted!  What did/do you have to give up being perfect about to jump start your success?  We'd love to hear! 

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