Having packed my child off to nursery one morning earlier this week, no sooner had I got back home to fire up the laptop, when I received a call from her key worker to say that Lily had spectacularly vomited all over her shoes – and another child.

I was more concerned about the shoes than the other child, to be honest, but nevertheless, the detail helped paint me a picture of the severity of scenario that was unfolding at the nursery.

It was requested, naturally, that I go and collect Lily to take her home for the benefit of all concerned. I quite liked the fact that she was under the weather, actually, because Lily loves her two days a week at nursery, and usually looks pissed off when we arrive to pick her up, but on that day, her neediness was all-consuming and all she wanted was “Mummy cuggles“. Aaahhhhh.

It soon passed, however, and within hours I was back to hearing “No!” in response to statements that I hadn’t made and questions that I hadn’t asked. Great.

This child-shaped spanner in the works of course came with a bit of an admin headache for me in terms of my working day. I had to cancel clients, I had to push back deadlines, and I had to do as much as I could to find time in my already packed diary to make sure that all the things I’d be missing could indeed be re-arranged – or fear losing them altogether. When you’re a freelancer, or perhaps if you work for yourself in a small business, it’s unlikely you’ll have ‘cover’ when a child-based emergency arises, and even less likely that you’ll have someone to sort out all of this shit on your behalf whilst you go about kicking yourself for having not bought laundry tabs at the weekend. A sick day for your child – or a loved one who depends on you – is the same as a sick day for you. No pay, no ‘in work’ support, and no assurance that when the sickness bug buggers off, everything will be there waiting for you, just as you left it.

I’m lucky, though. Today was a bit of a pain to sort, but it was doable, and because I’m in a position where I cherry-pick the best clients in the world, who for some reason think I’m the best copywriter in the world (who’s available), they support me, and do so with compassion and understanding. I appreciate that this isn’t always the case for everybody, though – it certainly wasn’t for me in the early days, at least. There’s a blog about that, don’t worry.

Just as I thought I was winning at life, however, I got a bit irked when one of the nursery mums said in response to the situation as we passed in the car park upon Lily’s later return, “Well at least you’re part-time, so I imagine it’s a bit easier to sort everything”. She didn’t say it in a demeaning way, and I completely understood where she was coming from. I do indeed have at least one full day ‘at home’ with Lily each week. I want to do this, but I kind of have to as well, really, because childcare when you’re a working parent is a complete bastard, if that’s not an inappropriate word to use. Given the fact that I more than make those hours up with work elsewhere, though, I feel anything but part-time.

Having a kid hasn’t just changed my working hours (although really it’s all I’ve ever known seeing as I found out I was pregnant a whole three weeks after walking out of my ‘proper job’ to run my business full time…) but it’s also changed who I think about working with. I like that I attract clients who have – or have had – families themselves, or who are at the very least understanding of the challenges that working and parenting in equal measure can pose. My clients don’t have to be parents, but I want them to know what they’re potentially getting into in working with one. I want them to know that they will not hear from me if they call on a day when I’m with Lily, and I want them to know that if we’re going to be doing a lot of work together, they’ll have to let me work around things like our Shake, Rattle and Roll classes. They serve tea and toast – I’m not missing that.

So, when people have a bit of a pop about my posts on LinkedIn being nothing to do with business, and go out of their way to state the bleeding obvious that ‘You’ve just posted a picture of your kid cuddling an over-sized stuffed dog on a professional networking site’, there’s a reason. I’m not just sharing the picture because I think it’s cute or funny. I’m sharing it because I want to share my values with you, and I’m sharing it because I want you to get to know me.

And because I think it’s funny.

Call me a part-timer though, and I’ll throw my child-shaped spanner at your head.

Shameless self promotion alert! If you love my blogs and would like to start writing your own in order to benefit your business, please find out how by clicking HERE!