Am I the Hardest Working Small Biz Mom?

Below is my entry for Verizon Small Business’ Hardest Working Small Biz Mom Contest:

Although sweating, our two-year old shriekingly refuses to remove his bike helmet, while our four-year old, in T-Rex mode, attempts to chew my leg…all as I field a call from a reporter.  It’s just another day in our hectic, but loving, household.

My husband and I are entrepreneurs. We own and manage The Urban Grape, an eleven-month old, successful boutique wine store outside of Boston. My husband sells the wine. I sell the store itself, handling the marketing, PR, events and social media. My office is the kitchen counter, the playground, the carpool lane, or anywhere I happen to be with my two active boys.

As a stay-at-home working mom, I work during naps, while waiting for the water to boil, and after the kids go to sleep. They’ve adjusted to my too-often departures at dinnertime to attend events at the store. Miraculously, I’ve learned to physically transform myself from playground mom to business owner in under two minutes.

In the battle against fatigue, I’ve been known to momentarily nod off  while turning the pages of a book, only to feel refreshed by the end of the story.  My four-year knows when I’m overtired, and will slyly suggest we climb into bed and talk about our day. That’s code for, “You can fall asleep right here, Mommy, and I won’t tell.”

I’ve learned that no one notices if I pack a cream cheese sandwich on stale bread for lunch. I’ve accepted that I may miss a speck of dirt behind their ears. I’ve convinced myself that applesauce in a to-go cup is fresh fruit. My busy mom’s survival technique is self-forgiveness.

What matters is that my children feel my great tenderness and love for them on a daily basis.

And when your two-year old plays at the feet of a visiting winemaker, or your four-year old enthusiastically says “Welcome to The Urban Gwape!” as customers enter the store, you know you’ve found yourself on life’s chosen path.

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at 2:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.