Don't be afraid of 'hard'

I'm incredibly lucky to have a job where I work from home, with many tasks carried out over the phone or internet, although this means that I never actually see a lot of the people who I regularly deal with. Because of this, some people were not aware that I was pregnant until recently and some were not even aware I'd had a baby.  In fact, one lady only found out this afternoon so there may still be people who don't realise. 

The general reaction has been a sort of politely bemused horror. 

I was induced on Friday the 26th June and I worked until a little past 5pm that evening and then went into hospital at 8pm, as booked.

I responded to two calls on the Saturday and let the rest go to voicemail. Our little boy was born on the Sunday morning, I went home Sunday afternoon and napped that evening while my husband sent out the schedule. We don't send out a schedule Monday night but the next schedule, the one on Tuesday night, I did myself. 

I basically took one day off work. 

Is that because my husband is selfish or lazy? Not at all! He was (and is) willing to do whatever he can to help me during these early newborn days. But he knows what I'm like when I have made up my mind on something. Anyone who stands between me and my goals will be annihilated, lol!

He has helped in lots of other ways- school runs, grocery shopping, cooking.  But I like things done a certain way; it's much easier to do them myself. Besides which, 'wahm' is part of my self-identity. I don't see why two things which are important parts of my life can't co-exist. 

And I guess that's the answer to when people keep saying "I don't know how you do it!". I've never expected it *not* to work out and so I just do it! Sure, I guess it can look hard, when I have an invoicing deadline but can only type with one hand because I'm feeding a hungry baby who never seems to be full! But if I stopped and thought about how hard it could be, I'd be wasting valuable time and letting myself be defeated before I'd even begun. 

The fact is, hard does not mean impossible. Hard means it takes effort and so it must be something important, something you really want. Frankly, life is too short to waste time on the unimportant stuff. 

So work hard,

Play hard, 

Make the important stuff happen and enjoy the life you've created for yourself xx