I'm Watching You..

This morning my five year old daughter looked at me accusingly and asked, “Mum, have you guys been cutting my dress?”

Not sure where this was going I replied, “No – why do you ask?”

“Because my dress is getting shorter and shorter!”

How Ironic!

This news piece gave me a chuckle, hopefully it will do the same for you.

Environmental activists Raoul Surcouf and Richard Spink set sail from Bristol, England, in May on a 40-foot boat outfitted with solar panels and a wind turbine to attempt the first carbon-neutral crossing of Greenland's polar ice cap (a journey being monitored eagerly online in Bristol by 25,000 schoolchildren). However, 400 miles off the coast of Ireland, hurricane-force winds destroyed the boat, and the crew was lucky to be rescued by a nearby ship, which was a tanker carrying 680,000 barrels of crude oil.

Image courtesy of www.Richard-Seaman.com

[The Guardian (London), 5-6-09]

Savvy and Successful - Viktoria Darabi

Viktoria Darabi always has plans brewing for the next Hawkesbury tourism event or advancement for Renaissance Rocking Horses. Finally, she has put to use her many years of marketing and publicity experience and has founded her own business, allowing her to do what she loves – help people and their businesses.

Savvy and Successful, Viktoria’s new business provides a coaching service offering business and marketing advice to businesses owners.

The new business venture is something Viktoria has had ‘brewing’ for a long time. “It’s probably something I should have done sooner, but with a young family and growing a business, I didn’t have the wherewith all or time to think it through completely and put the wheels in motion.” But when Viktoria became a mentor and speaker for the Young Entrepreneur’s Stepping-Up Program she realised she had everything she needed to start the business.

Viktoria’s favourite part of the job? Working with young people. “I love their bravery, passion for what they are doing and of course the delicious potential that they represent.”

Despite her high-achieving lifestyle, Viktoria is under no illusion about the fact that, underneath it all, she is just a normal, busy mum and admits that her daily motivation is quite simple; “Getting the children ready for school is what makes me get up every morning.”

Overcoming the Odds - Rachel Warner

It's that time of year again and the Cancer Council is holding their annual Australia's Biggest Morning Tea rally. To commemorate the difficult and often heartbreaking struggles many face due to cancer I decided to share the story of Rachel Warner who has had a tough few years but has come through it with a refreshingly honest and insightful take on life.

At 27, Rachel was thrown into a storm of uncertainty, tests and surgery after a grim discovery was made just after giving birth to her second son.

“I’d been told that it’s quite common for adults to have nodules on the thyroid,” Rachel explained, “but I wasn’t prepared when the specialist rang me and said, ‘Hi Rachel. It’s got to come out.’”

Rachel was prescribed surgery (total removal of the Thyroid) and Radioactive Iodine Treatment and was booked into hospital almost immediately.
At the time of the surgery Rachel was still breastfeeding Campbell and the operation required a four day hospital stay. Rachel’s husband, Justin, spent those days by her bed, there with Campbell, so she could still breastfeed.

The Radioactive Iodine Treatment (RIT) was much more complicated than the surgery but fortunately it was able to be postponed until after Campbell turned one and had been weened.

“I had the RIT in an isolation room at the hospital and no one was allowed in and I wasn’t allowed out of the room for 24 hours,” Rachel said. “It was a very lonely experience.”

“Even after going home I spent ten days alone in my room, not allowed to kiss or hug anyone (especially my boys). It was a frustrating and went very slowly but we had a lot of family and friends from church who brought us meals and we knew we weren’t alone.”

Rachel and Justin explained everything to their eldest son Jake, who was three at the time. He understood that he needed to stay away from his mummy so that the medicine in her body didn’t make him sick but it was tough on baby Campbell who was too young to understand why his mum couldn’t hug him.

There are two types of Thyroid cancer which are fatal. Fortunately, the type Rachel suffered with was curable. “Surprisingly, there wasn’t a time when I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Rachel reminisces. “It did get hard though. I just wanted to enjoy my new baby but had this hanging over me for the first 15 months of his life.”

Even though life has changed forever for Rachel, she’s confident about the future. “Whether the cancer returns or I’m faced with more mountains to climb, I know I can do it,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever go through something I can’t come out of stronger.”

Rachel is now fully recovered from the cancer but will undergo tests every six months and requires medication everyday for the rest of her life. She still has trouble with low calcium levels and is working with specialists to find a solution.

Mr or Mrs Mum?

Whether to have a full-time career or stay home with the children is a decision women are able to make these days. Women are continually celebrating the fact that during the last few decades portrayal of our role has changed, giving us the freedom to choose whether we work, stay home or both. Though liberating this choice can cause confusion, frustration and sometimes even anguish, especially when the question of childcare is raised.

I spoke to two of my beautiful friends who've both carved a life for themselves in which they're able to be doing exactly what they want with their lives. Leanne is a full-time accountant and Susan is a full-time at home mum. They've both explained how they make their lifestyle choices work, why they chose the life they have and what makes it work and sometimes difficult.

Full-time accountant - Leanne

“We decided that Hayden would be the main care giver mainly for economic reasons. I always thought I’d be a stay at home mum, because that’s how I grew up. However, that changed once I started working.

“It works well for us; the kids get real hands-on time with Hayden, which they love and having more money isn’t everything but it certainly gives us more options. I love it too because I come home to cooked meals and clean washing! I’m very fortunate that my employer is quite flexible; sometimes I meet Hayden at appointments for the kids (eg. Will’s kinder orientation) and make the time up later.

“I can get very tired though, especially when I was breastfeeding and I’ve found that friendships can suffer because I like to spend all my ‘after-hours’ time with the kids.

“The last three years have been a steep learning curve and I’ve had to learn to let Hayden do things his way. I’ve also found that it’s very important to take time out and to make the effort to socialise, especially for Hayden’s sake.

“Socially it can be tough. My husband has been laughed at for being a Mr. Mum and someone commented to me, “He must be lazy”. These comments upset me because I believe that my husband is more of a man for putting his family first by choosing what works best for all of us rather than simply conforming to the norm. Some assume that I’m working only because I have to, not because I want to and they feel sorry for me which can be frustrating, yet some people think it’s fantastic. In the end, who cares what people think? As long as our family is happy.”

Full-time stay at home mum - Susan

“Ever since I was a little girl, I really wanted to be a wife and mother. I’ve always loved taking care of children and although I didn’t have any younger siblings, I was looking after other peoples kids from my early teens onwards.

“One of the biggest benefits of staying at home is the time I have with my kids, where they can ask questions like, “what is time?” (try answering that one!). I see it as a privilege to have this time with my kids and don’t think I’ll ever have the opportunity to make such an impact on a life so I want to do the best I can.

“At first it was tough getting used to putting all my time and effort into working at home and not getting paid for it. It was quite humbling to be dependent on Steve as the breadwinner. Now I feel like Steve and I are a team doing our different parts for the family and I don’t see it as ‘Steve’s money’ anymore.

“I plan to stay at home until Archie is at school because I think that’s what’s best for us as a family. Because Steve’s job requires long hours, I feel it’s important for the children to have a parent consistently in the home and I’m in the best position to be able to do that.

“I’m really glad I haven’t had to put my children in day care but believe that having the luxury of having Grandparents caring for your children would be a great option.

I’ll probably study at home for a couple of years and then work part-time within school hours once he’s started school. I’m a big believer in taking things as they come though and don’t spend a lot of time planning it out.”

Bringing Business Home

In years gone by, home-based businesses were considered second-rate, assumed to be newly established and perhaps even unprofessional. Now, possibly because of soaring child care rates and commercial rental fees, mother's all over the place are running busy, successful businesses from their homes. Many have employees and run business meeting at the family table. Shelley Appelgren, based in Emu Plains, is one of these mums.

In 2001 Shelley launched two businesses from home - Pay Solutions and Salon One. Pay Solutions is a direct debit management company, allowing buisnesses to have a more steady cashflow due to regular direct debit payment being made by clients and managed by Pay Solutions. Salon One is a beauty salon membership program used at many salons around the country. Members/salon clients pay a monthly membership fee which is then translated into credit for use in-store, again allowing owners a more steady cash flow.

Salon One was the original concept. Shelley's friends were struggling with their family business - a gym/beauty salon; “Their salon was having its ups and downs so they came up with a concept of a membership program which was to be conducted via direct debit,” Shelley explains. “My friend had the concept and I had a marketing background so she asked me if I wanted to come on board in a marketing capacity. My daughter was only three months old but I jumped at the opportunity.”

Shelley has since bought out the business and now runs Pay Solutions and Salon One with the assistance of two employees.

Pay Solutions evolved soon after.

“There are a number of reasons why we chose to have a home-based business,” the busy Mumpreneur explains. “I have a young family so the flexibility was a plus. The other main reason was that I wanted to invest funds into the marketing and growth of the business.”

Shelley admits that initially, the plan was to stick with the home-based setup for a few years and then to move into an off-site office. But people’s perceptions changed and Shelley realised that moving wasn’t necessary. “I thought if I ran the business from home that people would see me as an unprofessional small business but that if I had an office, people would see me as a more professional, large organisation,” Shelley says. “I think people’s views have changed over the years and it’s no longer necessary to have an external office.”

Shelley’s family have been very supportive of her business and her daughters, Georgia 8 and Ella 5, love watching and getting involved. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing (that they often see me working). They’re exposed to that work ethic and I can explain to them that Mummy’s working to earn money so we can do special things.”

Pay Solutions and Salon One will remain home-based businesses for as long as possible until council restrictions require them to move (many councils have strict regulations about how many employees can work in a home office). When the time comes to move elsewhere, Shelley will no doubt feel a little disappointed. “If you had asked me eight years ago whether I preferred working from home or not I wouldn’t have said it was by choice but now it is definitely my choice.”

A Healthy Imagination - Debbie O'Connor

Author and Graphic Designer, Debbie O'Connor, cured her son’s dislike of vegetables by writing a book!

When Debbie's son, Joel, decided he wasn't going to eat vegetables, Debbie, who was on a weightloss journey herself, decided to find a solution. The solution came in the form of meal time guest, Andrew Potato Face, and developed into a colourful children's book.

“The book follows the story of Andrew Potato Face, who gets eaten, little by little throughout the meal," Debbie explained. "The aim of the book is to make mealtimes fun and to encourage children to experiment. Eating an ‘eyeball’ is surprisingly fun when you are a little person!"

It all started at a Mother's Group meeting. Debbie expressed her worries and some of the womens suggested she make a 'vegetable face' on Joel's plate. Debbie gave it a go and asked him; “Would you like to eat his eyeballs?” He was so excited that he grabbed a handful of peas and ate them.

Debbie made an Andrew Potato Face book for Joel to enjoy but after she took the copy to Mother's Group and everyone wanted a lend, Debbie realised she was onto something.

“When I lent the original book to other mums in our Mothers Group, they all came back with positive feedback," she sais. "One of the mothers had a premmie daughter who’d never eaten a plate of food in her life. She borrowed the book and she said it was the first time her daughter had eaten a complete meal." After seeing how much it had helped other mums, Debbie decided to have it published. The bright, fun illustrations were created by Leonie Windle and Debbie had it designed and printed through her graphic design company, White River Design.

The books are sold online at http://www.andrewpotatoface.com.au/ and Debbie visits preschools to read to the children and discuss healthy eating. The book is also available for sale as a fundraiser.

Images courtesy of WhiteRiverDesign.com.au