For the past two days my Kindergartner has been at home unexpectedly. The polar vortex has struck again in Minnesota, with temperatures nearing -20 degrees and wind chills dipping down to -37!
Snow storms, illness (projectile vomiting is the worst), or problems with your childcare provider – every entrepreneur with children has faced these issues.
The challenge is how to keep these bumps in the road from becoming profit potholes.
5 Easy Ways to Kidproof Your Small Biz Profits
This post is part of the Word Carnival, a monthly small biz expert extravaganza. Read all the entries for this month on the topic Parentpreneurs: What Being a Parent Can Teach You About Business
Dump the Guilt
This one is tough.
My daughter is still at an age where she wants to always be playing with Mom or Dad.
When I hear, “Mommy when will you be done working?” or “You never play with me!” it hits home. Even though intellectually I know it isn’t true, emotionally I feel guilt.
Guilt won’t help you or your kids. It certainly won’t put food on the table or a roof over your head. Now when my daughter asks I tell her Mommy is working so we can have spaghetti tonight (a favorite). Or remind her of a favorite toy.
Remember too you are serving as a role model for your child(ren). Being successful in business and finding time for them gives a template they can strive for when they are adults.
Leverage Their Outlook
Another round of Arial, Cinderella and Barbie taking the Enterprise to Saturn? Or an interlude of clearing the house of enemies with our lightsabers? (Star Trek, Star Wars, Disney mashups are always entertaining)
Let go of your fear frustration. This is a great chance to unlock your creativity and view things from a new perspective.
I love working some type of problem into our play and seeing how my daughter solves it. While the recent marathon of Star Wars: Clone Wars has led to many examples of “using the Force”, her ideas often surprise me.
Harness Their Energy
I confess at 7 a.m. I’m really not interested in running around the house. I want a fresh cup of coffee and some intellectual activity.
Kindergartners think 7 a.m. is time to rush around, laugh wildly, and play.
There are two ways you can harness this excess energy. The first is to join in. Physical activity is good for your mental fitness. Simply set a time limit for the bouncing, chasing, and carousing – let your kiddo know when that’s over it’s time to settle down. Both of you will be better for it.
The other way is to harness this energy is direct towards things you need done. It never ceases to amaze me how much my daughter enjoys helping clean! In the winter I can bring her and our dog outside while shoveling. She gets to play in the snow while I get a necessary chore done.
Budget for Bribes Activities
Don’t judge me.
I confess there are times I’ll “inspire” cooperation by offering a reward. Being stuck inside for practically a week due to the cold is really hard on a young kid (or me for that matter!). Sometimes a little extra incentive is needed to overcome the aggravation.
I look to find something that is viewed by her as a reward, yet also offers some educational benefit. Right now that means Leapster games. Its a handheld gaming device designed for kids. While some offerings are just for fun, many incorporate learning into the games. Win Win!
Let Them Be Your Compass
Since having a child I’ve found myself asking the following two questions:
1. Would I be proud to tell my daughter about this? No? Then pass.
2. Is this project worth giving up my weekend / nights? I still will work nights and weekends, but only on things that truly align with my business and move it forward.
Final Thoughts
While having a business and a 5 year old can be challenging, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What are some obstacles you’ve faced? Solutions you’ve used?
First of all, isn’t EVERY hour the perfect time to rush around, laugh wildly, and play? We adults need so much more of that in our lives. And even tho my son is 25 and not 5, he still reminds me of what’s important. Family and friends are such a gift — we really DO need to spend more time with them!
While I intellectually agree with you Tea that we should always be up for playing and running around, pre coffee that’s probably not going to happen. It’s wonderful to hear how you are close to your son now that he’s an adult.
As a mom of four girls, I instantly wrapped my heart around this question, Nicole …
“Would I be proud to tell my daughter about this? No? Then pass.”
You could easily replace “daughter” with mom, best friend, spouse, colleague, etc. 🙂
The “role model” thought is a biggie for me! I can only hope I’ve been a good one. I’ve worked three part time jobs for the past several years to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. It was never easy and I was gone a lot. Raising children alone and holding down as many jobs as I could humanly handle hopefully modeled the inner strength and guts it takes to survive. Not to mention all the sacrifices and tradeoffs.
Fabbytastic post and I hope the weather warms up SOON!!!
I agree you could definitely replace daughter with spouse, friend, sibling, or parent. However as a rather independent minded person (read stubborn and willful) those opinions never drove me the way considering my daughters reaction does. To her I feel a powerful responsibility. While she is her own person (even at 5 she’s got my stubbornness), as a parent I feel it is my job to demonstrate by living and acting the lessons and values I want her to learn.
The guilt, the guilt! It’s funny how kids remember the times you aren’t available more than the many times you are. Luckily, my daughter’s now at the stage where she recognizes the advantages of my being around as much as I am, but it still means finding a good balance. I recently had to turn down a client who wanted me to work unsociable hours because it cut into family time. I also love the idea of kids as a moral compass – nice one, Nicole! 🙂
Well Sharon I do think it depends on their age and what they want. When they want to spend time with you of course it’s been simply AGES. Looking back now on my childhood I have some great memories of spending time with my Dad doing things. He spent less total time with me than my Mom, but he made the effort.
I’m not a parentpreneur yet, but I do babysit a one-year-old, which has taught me a lot. Just being around her for a few hours has given me some insight into how hard it would be to truly focus on my own business while paying attention to her needs and keeping her out of the dog’s water bowl (she loves playing in water).
When I used to babysit for a family that had 5 kids ranging in age from 2 to 9, the old “make a game out of a chore” trick usually got me an extra dollar at the end of the night. Basically, whoever put the most toys away got a piggy back ride and the choice of what cartoon or movie to watch later in the evening. It got them active and excited, and we actually did something productive. Kids force us to think creatively!
Well Molly it sounds like your adventures in babysitting also has some great insights. Plus I consider my pets my first kids (two cats and one dog). Whenever you are responsible for another life it impacts you, and if channeled can be a very positive one.
These are some fantastic ideas – and the common theme that seems to be cropping up around the carnival is “expectation management”.
That last bit: “Would I give up my weekend/nights for this?” is a question I’ve started to ask myself about *Every* block of time I have open now that my son is here.
“Is this something I am willing to spend X chunks on?”, because that’s how many it’s gonna take between the work, diaper changes, feedings, cry breaks, and wardrobe changes. Is that really worth it? Or is it worth putting extra strain on my wife who’ll have to compensate through a feeding without support?
I’ve started delegating like CRAZY and getting as much stuff off my plate as is humanly possible. Odd how kids give you that level of focus.
Expectation Management – YES. Not matter how well you think you prepare for becoming a parent it’s still truly a life altering event. That little 7 lb bundle makes an impact.
You will find you get better at the delegating, evaluating over time. It’s never easy, but practice makes it less of a challenge.
OH MY GOD the REWARDS. As a wise woman once told me: “If you give it to her AFTER she complies, it’s a reward. If you give it to her BEFORE she complies, it’s a bribe.” Rewards ROCK! And honey, I am SO with you on the 7 AM coffee and adults-only thing. One day – very, very soon, undoubtedly much sooner than you will expect – SHE will be the one making coffee, pouring herself a cup as she dashes out the door with an after-thought “Bye, mom” over her shoulder as she’s furiously texting with her free hand on the way to the bus … and on that day you will be willing to give anything for one more Ariel-Belle lightsaber battle. <3
Thanks for clarifying the rewards vs. bribe for me Annie. And yes that was an incredibly wise woman!
All my friends with older kids say the same thing about longing for this time. I know the day is coming that you describe. I try to use that to capitalize on the time now. However there are days when there isn’t enough caffeine in the world to get that lightsaber duel going so I will use a reward for a more pedestrian activity.
First, cheers to being such an engaged parent and second, for teaching her to to dump the guilt by doing it yourself! Oh boy, oh boy….guilt can pull you under and swallow you whole. And you’re doing it differently, what a powerful message for business owners the world over!
xoxo, Blaze
Hi Blaze – welcome to the carnival. Dumping the guilt is definitely a work in progress. I agree with you that guilt can swallow you whole if you’re not careful.
Nicole, you took me back 30 odd years in a heartbeat. I had truly forgotten how hard it is to work from home with little tackers racing around exuding that extraordinary energy. Did I bribe them – oh gosh I hope not. The only way to judge that now is to question them on the subject of bribing v rewards and see what they say. I believe they will come down firmly on the side of rewards in which case, I did an OK job. I do remember more than anything not promising something I couldn’t deliver on.
One week looked inside is tough. Hope you are out shovelling the snow together as I write! Thanks for reminding me. So much of it was joyful, so much hard work! And soon I will be repeating the exercise with my grandchild, still working. So I shall revisit this then!
“Don’t judge me.” LOL. I would bribe, cajole and coax a kid any way I had to. Your lessons are so great and fun too. I especially love the idea of reminding yourself that you’re a role model. There is a time for playing and running around the house and a time for working. That’s a lesson you can’t learn in a book but only through the example of a good parent. You make it sound so easy 😉