Guest Blogger - Bossy Mummy - Laura Furiosi Talks About Life As a Working Mum

Working Mum Life

Every now and then I look back and see how far we have come as a gender in Australia. We have the right to vote, we are not forced into marriage and we have even got the acceptance of others to be able to be a working Mother. It truly is remarkable how far women’s rights have come. I used to think, because of how far we had come, we didn’t need to worry about that stuff anymore. That was until I started working and was also a mother of three children.

Now, don’t worry, I am not one of those types of people who wants to beat their own drum and complain about how hard life is. In fact my life is pretty amazing. I am a single mum with three primary school aged daughters whom I love very much. I run three businesses and I manage to be able to pick them up and drop them off to school most days as well as be there for my daughters when they need me during work hours. IT wasn’t long into my working mother life that I started to come across this judgement from others and that I started to see that working mums still have a long way to go.

The first real time I noticed this was when I won the Ausmumpreneur award last year. It is an award event that recognises hard working mums doing well in the business world. It is a great supportive environment where everyone can get together and share stories of how their child covered themselves head to toe in nappy cream whilst the mum was on an important call to a major department store. Or the times where they snuck in breast feeds whilst still managing to work a trade show. The community involved in the awards are very supportive. It encourages women like me and yourself to go out and give business a go while also helping you find ways to do achieve success while still raising your children.

We need to support each other

After I received the award there was a backlash from some other female entrepreneurs who said that the title MUMpreneur was belittling to female entrepreneurs. I was confused as to why someone would think it was belittling to call someone a mum and an entrepreneur. I am a Mum and I am not hiding that. I am proud of what I have achieved whilst still raising my daughters as an entrepreneur and I am not hiding that either. If the world was an equal place for women maybe we wouldn’t have a need for such gatherings and awards, but I for sure enjoyed meeting all the wonderful mumpreneurs and enjoyed the support I received from them, even to this day.

This leads me to the major problem for working Mums, it is other women. We should all be supporting each other, whether we choose to be stay at home mums, 9-5 mums, rockstar mums, or whatever someone wants to do. We should be helping raise up all mothers regardless of what they do in their day. We should be helping them see their worth and helping them feel valued. If our energy was directed in this way, can you imagine how wonderful it would be for everyone?

It is so dangerous when these negative judging attitudes of other people start to seep into everyday life and unconscious thought. These thoughts can then be even in your own children’s heads. My own daughter once said to me, oh Mummy, you should do the dishwasher for Daddy, he has been at work all day. Even though I had been at work all day too just finished early so I could pick the kids up from school.

We need to drop the double standards

This double standards attitude between working men and working women in the home has really been a real kicker for me. Don’t get me wrong, yes, men are stepping it up in their roles at home. However we are nowhere near equal yet. Chores and the running of the household should be shared equally. The more our children see equal sharing of jobs and tasks in the home the more it will become normal in society. As my girls grow up I want them to know that it isn’t entirely up to them what is cooked for dinner or when the washing gets done. This is something we as women can control by demanding more from our working partners. It is the underlying assumptions of women’s roles in the home and workplace from generations past that we need to weed out from our upbringings and constantly challenge. Hopefully the next generations will slowly evolve to be more just and equal for women. Until then we just need to continue to challenge and stand up to ideas and views that are not supportive.

Top 5 tips to coping as a working Mum

However, while we wait for this positive change this to happen, see my top 5 tips on how I manage to be a working mum.

Be organised – have a diary for the kids and a diary for you. Keep a schedule and keep an eye on each week as it comes.
Do everything in bite size pieces: Keep on top of everything as it comes in – school notes are dealt with the minute I receive them, washing is done the minute the basket is full, folding is done once the washing is dry. Groceries are ordered the same time each week. I do thinks in bite sized chunks throughout the week and then find at the end of the week I don’t have a giant pile of washing to tackle, or a thousand school notes to chase.
Get some great support. Thanks to my amazing supportive staff, I have been able to create a great work environment for myself. I arrive after school drop off and leave before school pick up. I have worked my life around these times and now too does my businesses. My staff are so supportive. Before I had staff, I would work in the morning before the children woke up, and then in the evening after they went to bed, then during school hours. In the end the total work hours would be the same.
Ignore the judging – don’t let other people’s opinions on what or how you should be living your life affect you. As long as you are doing what aligns with your core beliefs and values then what does it matter what others might think. If you make the mistake of changing to please them, it will be you that ends up unhappy.
Take care of yourself. – I make sure I find time every week to have a little me time. Whether it is getting a manicure, having a long nap, doing some art or playing the piano. I find that through taking this time out for myself, I am a much patient and calmer worker and parent.

Laura Furiosi

Bossy Mummy – Business consulting www.bossymummy.com.au Instagram @bossymummy

Founder of Rashoodz Swimwear www.rashoodz.com.au CEO of Squad Logistics and Mummy

Rosie Luik8 October 2018Comment