There is no getting away
from it – when you are passionate about something – whatever that may be, it is
all consuming. It takes up your every
thought from morning till night and you do everything within your power to give
your passion wings and make it fly.
I am a Mum. First and foremost. And I LOVE it. I never realised how much I would love being
Mummy and 4 years after the birth of my first child, I am still waiting for the
novelty to wear off. I will be the first
to admit that I am somewhat OTT but I honestly cannot get enough of my
children.
9 months ago, I discovered
a new passion – my company, dorothyandtheodore.com. What started life as a casual conversation
with my friend and now business partner Emma over coffee and cake one day, now
absorbs the only bit of my brain which isn’t planning the next outing,
adventure or stage of weaning!
As anyone who has started
their own business will tell you, it takes two big things to make it
successful. Patience – something I have
none of but I do my best and Emma is great at reining me in, and hard
work. The sleepless nights which are par
for the course with new babies (I have 6 month old Belle in addition to 4 year
old Dalton, and Emma has 8 month old Joshua in addition to 3 year old Sophie)
that coincided with the launch of D&T were put to good use not only feeding
and nurturing our newborns but also exercising our brain power in terms of the
next day’s ‘to do’ list.
Now that we are up and
running, the ‘to do’ list seems to get longer each day. And at the same time, time is flying by and
our babies are well on their way to being toddlers and our toddlers are only a
matter of months away from going to school.
Time, which has always been precious, is increasingly at a premium, and
as any new mum will tell you – flying by far too quickly. So it is super important to be really
disciplined about our time and our roles.
For me, juggling being a
mum and a director of my own company, it is all about zoning my time. Family time is just that, - no ‘doing a bit or just this odd job’ and
no sitting the children in front on the TV to try and make a phone call –
although of course if I’m honest – those occasions do happen once in a while –
sometimes there is just no getting away from it. And work time – which in my schedule is when
the children are asleep or one’s asleep and the other’s at pre-school, is the
time to concentrate and focus on the tasks which need to be done for D&T. I confess that I find it hard to ignore the flashing
light on the Blackberry telling me that there is a new email, and often
‘challenge’ myself not to go pick it up and then am delighted with myself when
I realise that I had successfully completely forgot about the email due to
other distractions. But this approach
does centre the work time so that you are, I believe, efficient and focused,
and use your time wisely and effectively.
They say behind every great
man is a great woman, and I have to say that in my case there is a great man
behind this – wannabe - great
woman. I could not do what I do without
my hubby’s support and ever ready acceptance that I had not had chance to plan
or cook his tea or got the washing done.
But with his support, a huge amount of dedication, and an even bigger
desire to make my children proud of me and prove to them that anything is
possible if you work hard, I think I do an ok job of juggling D&T and my
priority – my children. It’s not perfect
– I am always burning the midnight oil and can’t remember the last time I just
sat and watched telly, but I’m getting used to the lack of sleep and seeing my
beautiful children every morning is enough to remind me to be the best person I
can be, for me and for them.
Sally Hall is director and
co- founder of www.dorothyandtheodore.com. Where stylish and beautiful products for
parents and child are practical too! Follow Dorothy and Theodore on Twitter too @DollyandTeddy :o)
No comments:
Post a Comment