I always find January to be a month where I get a bit of breathing room to think. December is so hectic both personally and work-wise with the holiday rush, but January tends to be a quieter time built for self-reflection.
This year I had to register my youngest for kindergarten, just a few days into the new year. I'm not a terribly sentimental person and I generally find moving through my kids' stages over time brings joy and not sadness. But I'll admit, my youngest being my last definitely hits a bit differently. It feels really weird to envision him in a classroom, I still feel like he's a baby.
It got me thinking what life is going to look like in September. That will mark the end of a 7-year chapter of having my kids at home part-time with me. On the practical side, it has me thinking about what I can do with the extra time. Do I expand the bakery? Paint more furniture? Look for something part-time locally? I honestly don't know at this point.
My kids have been home with me for 1-3 days per week since I started this business, allowing me to work while still enjoying some home days with them during the week. I can't get much done when they are home, which is great because it forces me to slow down on those days and focus on them. Although, it also has created moments of guilt during the busiest seasons when I allow just one more episode of Paw Patrol because I really have to get this order done today...
When my youngest was a toddler we would always drop his brother off at school and then come back for a Hobbit-style second breakfast. At the time it was often scrambled eggs and toast, and it was just the coziest time of day for us. My husband would ask if he had plans for our home day by saying "What's the plan, Scrambled Egg Thursday?" regardless of what day of the week it was. That stuck, and we still use that phrase as shorthand for "no big plans, just staying home".
Last week I was eating my second breakfast and my now three-and-a-half year old was eating goldfish crackers because obviously eggs are yucky this week. I watched him eat and had one of those really intense moments of gratitude and the strongest awareness of time being fleeting. Soon he'll be in kindergarten, and I'll figure out whatever my next steps are. Time will fly and the path ahead will unwind. In the meantime I have seven months left of this chapter and I want to make sure I appreciate them. I am so lucky I've been able to balance work and parenthood these last 7 years, with enough free time for slow mornings and scrambled eggs.