"Me" time, my time, mom's night out, girl's night out, mommy time or just a plain 'ole time out can be difficult to find.  But, if we are honest with ourselves, we CAN find the time.

The problem isn't really FINDING the time.  It is USING it.

Deciding to become a mom was one of the biggest and most exciting decisions of my life.

For many years I thought I never wanted kids.

It honestly never even crossed my mind until I was in my early 30’s and met my husband. I guess it took meeting a man I could imagine having kids with to uncover my maternal instinct.

I had been living a very adventurous life up until that point. In fact my husband and I met teaching sailing in Mexico.

Unfortunately, this happens.  Ugh.

Despite our best efforts, employers do lie.  And people can get caught in a web that impacts both their professional and personal lives.

Do you have a BIG idea – one that will transform your career, your company’s business model, streamline processes, save significant time and money, land you a brand new role or help you branch off and build your own successful enterprise?  Have you put a plan of action in place or are you stalling, plagued by doubt, continuing to play small?

Business owners are so busy pushing ahead we rarely take time to sit back and reflect on our accomplishments.  We definitely don't do this as mothers but each year I think we should take a moment and reflect on what we have accomplished and how we have grown over the previous year.

Several months ago, I posted that my children were lobbying for a dog. I got great feedback, tips and opinions from dog lovers and haters alike.

Many, many months have passed and much thought has been put into the topic, and all the while my children have campaigned. What did this campaign look like? Well, there were many different projects and presentations involved.

I’m a creative person who likes to think outside the box. Yet, in the publishing world there are so many boxes without windows and rules you need to follow inside the box.

And then on top of it, publishers and literary agents won’t give you the time or day unless you are a celebrity (which it’s pretty obvious an ordinary mom isn’t), have published before (that is what I’m trying to do) or know someone in the industry (how is this going to happen if I can’t talk to them?).

Now that I have a five-year-old and an eight-year-old in elementary school, it is more challenging for me to get work done when they are home compared to when they were babies. The biggest difference: they require constant engagement. They talk nonstop, ask questions nonstop... and oddly enough expect a similar level of conversation in return.

Returning to work - or even never leaving - requires balance, focus and choices.  The choices are the most difficult part - when to work, when to play, when to answer emails and when to leave work early to see a school play.  

Ten years ago, the four Mabel partners sat in my sister’s kitchen drinking champagne and stuffing envelopes to send to our friends. The letters inside announced our new business, Mabel’s Labels. We may have come close to begging them to order from our fancy new website. That fancy new website had just been created by a couple of buddies from university who did it in exchange for a foosball table.  Our budget for that evening of envelope stuffing was enough to cover about 100 stamps.