Double Time

So you may have noticed we have some new faces around our shop these days…

Two new Dreamers that are here to stay (at least for the next 17 years) are Jack and Arie my boy-girl twins. I never could have imagined this is what it would look like to be both a mother and small business owner, but here I am, trying to figure it all out. With the pandemic challenges of being short-staffed (like the rest of the world), struggling to get supplies, and the ever-changing regulations this alone is enough to keep a small business owner busy 7 days a week. Enter stage left, ?? two little beans.  With these two a whole new set of challenges arose. Do we try and find a daycare? Is that the safest option? If I do bring them to work what does that look like?  Insert a long shopping list of questions. In the end, we decided that what was best for us was to add them to the Dream Team.

I was in for a whole new set of hurdles (sometimes literally baby gates are no joke) especially now that they are on the move. I started by doing some reorganizing. I moved around shelves and tables so that my workspace would fit a large, gated play area by my desk.  Mr. Jack has already figured out how to leverage all of his 15 pounds to escape/knockdown/break free of any enclosure I make. Although I’ve been told I’m skilled at getting more than 24 hours out of a day, I only have so many hands. How do I get anything done with two teething infants you ask? I wear them, I was gifted this magical carrier which allows me to carry one in a pouch on the back and one in the front, et voila! Two free hands! And sometimes I’m lucky they nap which allows even more productivity. Don’t get me wrong, it does take longer to do anything and everything. They say with one kid it takes twice as long well with two, how long do you have? We are finding a rhythm, and we are very lucky to have a tolerant staff who are eager to help keep eyes on these Houdinis.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s tough. Lately, I’ve asked myself (usually on the brink of tears) why I’m doing this. Being torn between my shop baby and new human babies – am I going to be able to support them all and help them grow? And every time the answer is still yes. I may forget to eat lunch, or take naps in the car in the parking lot of the bank, or forget what day it is, but I’m still committed to helping people wash their hands while raising these bright-eyed twins and showing them that anything is possible.

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