Possums,

Want to know what I do each day?

SURE.

LET’S DO THAT.

8am: I wake up. It’s school holidays currently, so I am LIVING IT UPPPP! I stayed up until midnight last night reading which is the cause of all my sleep-ins. Chris has been up since 6am with the kids. He is an early riser and so are they. NOT I! MAMA HAS BEEN UP READING AGAIN!

Make a cup of chai tea, sit on the couch by the window so I can bask in a sunbeam. Talk to Chris while my brain wakes up.

9am: We decide to drive into town to grab a few supplies. We are on a couple of acres about 8 minutes out of town which is pretty bonza. We haven’t spent much time at the closest town centre yet – we usually do groceries and run errands at a larger shops near my kid’s school. We thought we’d live it up this time and walk around the closest town centre to get our bearings. Discovered an awesome art supply store/newsagency, and I bought some paint and glue. Grabbed some anti-histamines from the chemist for my kid who currently gets allergic welts from anything and everything. The chemist was selling lucky dips to raise money for a rad disability support organisation, so I bought two for the kids.

9:45am: Youngest kid gets a blood nose as we drive home. The poor kitten has had a few of them now, and is super calm as she blots it up with tissues. For a moment though, I look at the blood and want to vomit. I’m usually fine with blood, but not in this moment.

10am: Back home. WOO! Home really is my favourite place in the world. Clean up Mermaid Daughter #2h a bit more (nose is fine now). Eat brioche and try to calm myself after my blood(y) anxiety (HA! PUN!)

10:30am: The kids are playing outside when I hear wailing. The kind of wailing that makes you run. My eldest kid has fallen off her bike onto concrete, and has skinned knees and hands. She wails as me and Chris fluster over her, disagreeing with what course of treatment we should take. I realise my flustering and disagreeing isn’t helping shit, so I bow out and let Chris take over caretaking. I bobble off and clean the house a bit. Within 10 minutes, Chris has Mermaid Daughter #1 calm and patched up, and is gently tending to her. LOOK AT ME! I DON’T HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING! I CAN STOP BEING OVERCOMPETENT!

Also: parenting really is managing a series of mini-crises.

11am: Realise I’m a bit crotchety because I want to do some painting. I haven’t had as much quiet time with myself as I’ve needed lately, and I get a bit grumpy if I don’t. I take myself outside, grab a folding privacy screen thing I bought years ago and try some abstract painting on it.

11:10am: The kids have discovered I’ve left the house, so they’ve come outside to sit with me as I paint. That’s fine… at least I’m painting!

11:45am: Finish off painting one side of the privacy screen. I LOVE how it’s turned out! I potter about the house to do a bit of tidying and (more) unpacking. I think this is the slowest we’ve ever unpacked. We’ve probably had just a biiiiiit too much packing/unpacking over the years. Ha!

12pm: Chris is on the phone to Motherfucking Telstra again. Isn’t it every Australian’s most hated hobby? He’s trying to get some internet issues fixed with them, and isn’t having much luck because #Telstra. I think about continuing to clean, but I decide I hate the idea of it, and I could just read instead. So I curled up on the couch with a book while the kids play.

1pm: Chris starts making lunch while he’s still on the phone with Motherfucking Telstra. I keep reading.

1:15pm: Lunch is ready! Chris is still on the phone with MFT, so I finish prep and give the kids their lunch. I make up a platter for myself – baby capsicums, a handful of pistachio nuts, some leftover steamed broccoli from last night with balsamic vinegar and a Japanese red bean mochi bun. I sit outside to eat with them.

1:30pm: Chris is finished with MFT at last, and joins us for lunch outside.

1:45pm: I decide to continue painting the other side of the privacy screen – I’m enjoying it so much! I figure for the second side I can get even MORE experimental with my abstract painting, and I get even messier. It THRILLS me! The kids roll about on their bicycles, visiting their own artist’s studio that they set up at the back of our garage. Chris disappears again to call the Telecommunications Ombudsman because Telstra, as I have already discussed, are indeed Motherfuckers.

2:45pm: Painting is finished! I AM SO IN LOVE! YAY! I poke my head into Chris’ office window to tell him I am TOTALLY FEELING MYSELF RIGHT NOW. He smiles sweetly and nods and looks out at the screen and tells me it looks great.

3pm: The kids head in to go play Minecraft in Daddy’s office with him. They’ve got a whole world built together. It’s the cutest.

I head into my office to work for a couple of hours.

  • I email Chris my to do list for the day – it helps me be more accountable with my productivity because I’m an Obliger tendency.
  • I build out a webinar in Kajabi (fuck I love this software!)
  • I release the webinar publicly.
  • I email my mailing list (again with Kajabi – it’s now the central cog for my business)
  • I answer social media and emails from readers (I make sure I don’t let this take up all my time though – it’s too easy to fall down the social media slope!)
  • I watch an educational business video – I try to do this every day to learn something new.

5pm: My husband and kids knock on my door. Work time over… more family time!

6pm: I only go out at night about once a month (or less). Usually, you’ll find me cosy on the couch with my family. Tonight’s the red letter night though! Going to eat Italian with my mate Brigit.

10pm: Can guarantee I’ll be home and in bed by then. I AM A PARTY ANIMAL! HA!

My days change from day to day, but they always centre around three important things: my family, creativity and being gentle. Oh… and books. Obviously!

Big hugs,