A Day in the Life of a: Mom, Wife and Female Entrepreneur

Here is a glimpse of what my life really looks like as a woman entrepreneur, mother, and wife before all the glam, photoshop, and perfect quotes:

This morning I wake to my 2 year old pulling me out of bed at 5:19am, to go get “food” aka breakfast, and he only wants mama, baba (daddy) will not do.

This is a regular occurrence since his internal clock has decided to wake at the same time every morning, no matter what time his little head hits the sack the night before.

After I’ve satiated his tummy’s requests, we sit down together to watch morning cartoons – I open my laptop (completely out of habit) even though it’s still dark outside. I begin to brainstorm creative content, putting out fires, responding to emails and beginning another day.

All this even before I get to my morning coffee. After I wake up a bit, I stumble thru the dim lit apartment to the kitchen to make my coffee. On my way, of course, I stub my toe on whatever toy of choice lying around, legos, cars, robots – a sure reminder that there’s always one more task on the ‘to-do’ list for the day. 

I’m writing you because I feel an obligation to share what it’s like on the other side of perfect Instagram, Youtube, Facebook life. You deserve to know that life has it’s ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ like anyone else. As a mother, the list never ends. There is always another task, test of patience or sanity measure.

One thing that is very comparable with motherhood and entrepreneurship is, once you figure out how to manage or handle one thing, the next day it’s another new lesson or challenge to solve or figure out. Some days are more frustrating than others, but after two years, the one thing I have found that works to bring me ‘back to center’ is living in an attitude of gratitude. Whether that is of blessings, challenges, growth or personal demons etc. There’s always something to be learned and as long as I look at it this way, I have found a certain inner strength and voice saying: “You got this”.

My personal journey was two births at once, my husband, Feras and I launched MintPear simultaneously when our son Nymr (Tiger) was born. Everything hit me like a wave of responsibility and life change straight in the face. Even though ‘work’ itself is nothing new to me. Gone are the mornings when I can have a peaceful cup of coffee to ponder how much time I would like to waste on FB before I get ready for work/the day, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I would do it 10 times over if I were asked.

“A life without risk isn’t a life worth living” and “if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough”.

I’m in my head a lot, and I think it’s fair to say, most moms are. There are just a lot of things going on in there. On top of the mother pressure, daily tasks, house duties, expectations, in-laws etc., there’s my own spirit animals/personalities conversing amongst themselves. The ones that are proud of me and where I am today, the ones that used to be wild and free and then the dark ones that tell me I’m not enough. I’m not doing enough? Are the other mothers judging me? Is my son going to turn out normal? Is my marriage the happiest it could be? All of these voices constantly driving me throughout the day make me who I am, a highly caffeinated, impatient and impulsive-mother-entrepreneur lol.

What I’ve learned is, you can’t please everyone. Yes, I admittedly have a large list of people I owe rain check- lunch-dates to, that probably think I’ve blown them off, but really I just haven’t figured out how to juggle life properly yet, I’m still learning to fly. Love me or hate me, it’s the truth.

I make a genuine and conscious effort to bring healthy sustainable food into our home, and we rarely eat out. It’s so tempting when our schedules are so busy, but it’s the only way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and know exactly what you are putting into your body. You just feel better, your skin looks better, and your overall mood and energy level are better too. As I get older, I have found that I will definitely get ‘hangry” if I’m not keeping my Blood Sugar & A1C levels sustained, and my husband pays the price usually lol.

My husband and I love going to the gym and we are grateful there’s a daycare there to make it happen since we live away from family. When I think there’s so much on my plate, I have to remember there’s a romantic partner in my life that needs nurturing and caring for too. My companion, confidant, sometimes punching bag, and best friend: my husband.

How could I save the romance for last? This is the foundation, start of it all, and the reason I’m living the life I am today, as we speak. Feras is my rock. He’s my better half for sure. It baffles me how the most important part of life to me (love) ended up getting pushed to the back of the list. It’s not my intention of course, but it’s most likely because of convenience. We are married, and we know we love each other, ya-di-ya-da, am I right? I’ve found that this part of my life has taken a little more effort to not neglect. Keeping the fire alive is the ultimate key to a successful relationship. I have been with my partner for almost 9 years now. We both met in our early twenties and definitely required maturing on both parties to get to where we are today.

Communication has everything to do with the fact that we are still together. TBH if it was up to me, we most likely wouldn’t be together. In fact, I know we wouldn’t, because I am notorious for withdrawing, avoiding conflict, and just festering. It’s horrible I know, but it’s the truth. Thank god my husband is the most outgoing, courageous, balls-y man I know. He always forces me out of my shell, and for this, I’m thankful. He’s not an angel, by all means, we can both say some pretty mean things when we’re angry, and he’s a little better at pushing my buttons for sure.

The point is, we communicate, even if it takes so much effort to drop egos and talk (which I have a hard time doing admittedly, so this credit goes to Feras), it’s the only way to co-exist. If you are struggling in this area of your life, I recommend one of you drop your ego and figure out how to get the other party to open up and talk.

So this whole notion of finding balance is BS, honestly. If you want to hear my opinion, which obviously you do if you’ve made it this far thru my rambling… All I strive to do is my best, not your best, not my mama-friends on IG’s best, but Rita’s best, because I am me, learning, growing, falling on my face some days, and that’s beautiful. That’s enough.

Rita Almusa, Skin Expert, Master Esthetician and Co-Founder of MintPear.com