Summer Break Survival Tips for Mommies Who Freelance

Summer is an exciting time of the year. The sun is out, water bodies are warm and inviting, and our children are out of school. There's lots to do, places to go, and things to see, and our children just wanna have fun.

As a mom who owns and operates my own freelance book editing and publishing business, summer can be an especially hard season to juggle. No matter how well you think you've planned for it, things don't always go as planned. But I've learned a few things over the last several summers that make the two months spent at home working with my children more organized and enjoyable.

Prioritize what's important: The good thing about being in business for yourself is that you decide when to work and when not to. For example, as a book editor, I'm rarely on the phone. This leaves a lot of wiggle room for working around my girls, who are now 9 and 7. On days when I have calls scheduled, I prepare them to be as unintrusive as possible. I might let them watch a little TV or play or color, or paint. We work together as a team, and they understand my need for silence when it's required. Of course, this is easy because they've been working with my schedule since the day they were born. Figure out what works for you and your situation and then put it into practice.

Have fun: None of the things I've mentioned above and below are possible if you have a negative outlook. Try to see summer as a great time to spend with your children. Before you know it, they'll be heading back to school, and you'll have even crazier days getting them to and back from school and all of their after-school activities. Plus, you only have so many summers with them before they're adults and living their own lives. Enjoy the summers you have together now.

Create a schedule: I'm almost tempted to call this point "train your children" rather than "create a schedule," because oftentimes, mothers are overwhelmed because their children are not well-trained. For every summer, since my eldest daughter was born, I've kept a summer schedule. Admittedly, there have been a few summers where we just winged it, and things were a little chaotic. If possible, plan each hour of each day down to the minute, and let your children help you with ideas. If your summer schedule is implemented often enough, it will become part of your children's psyche, and they'll follow it like clockwork, bringing structure and sanity to your chaotic summer days.

Seize every moment: Moments come a dime a dozen; seize them and make them meaningful. When your child comes to you and says, "Mommy, remember when we ..." with the biggest smile on their face, it's because they've just remembered a moment spent with you. A moment that made them smile. A moment when they were having fun with their mother. Seize these little moments throughout the day to make the day count as great in their minds.

So much of life revolves around things and bills, and landing that new client and closing that account, and as parents, we're constantly worried about a million other things. This can cause us to neglect focusing on what's important. I don't discount that I'm writing this from a place of privilege. My husband works full-time, so I have financial support for those slow days. I've also had the privilege of being a present, full-time mother to my children since the day my eldest was born, all while running a business from home. I do not take any of these privileges for granted. The good news is that more and more women are seeking and finding ways to be home with their children while building income-producing businesses. I love this for mothers, and I want you to know that it is doable.

Needless to say, I'm still a work in progress. I take on too much in the summer and easily become overwhelmed. But I do have fun with my girls. We make our time together count, whether it's a trip to our local park, shopping at Costco, watching a movie together, or going on a family road trip. I wonder what things we'll do this summer! I have a long list of places to go and an ever-growing list of client projects to attend to. But whatever we do, we'll be doing it together, with laughter, giggles, and smiles, and another wonderful summer they can talk about for years to come!