A GUEST blog by Louise Emerson, the Musical Minis Durham franchisee, about her typical day.
Like most mums, my days are vey busy with 3 fairly young children to care for. Our mornings start at 6.30am when I get up and ready before the girls, as once they are awake, chaos ensues! It feels like everything is on fast-forward; rushing around preparing breakfasts, distributing the outfits I’ve hung out the night before for each of them and doing 3 lots of hair before the school run! I always try to leave the house reasonably tidy but it’s sometimes impossible with a 2 year old who likes to walk behind me leaving a trail of toys in her wake!
After the dash to school with all 3 girls flying about on scooters, Sadie and me return home to begin our day. On a Tuesday morning she comes to work with me so we more or less jump straight in the car and head for Lanchester. She loves to ‘help’ me unpack all of the equipment despite her assistance usually costing me an extra 5 minutes! She loves the sessions and knows all of the songs and actions. She has met some great friends through attending the classes and never wants to go home when it’s over.
Following the morning session, I pop home briefly to grab a quick bite to eat and leave Sadie with my dad who looks after her while she has her afternoon nap. I then go to Durham where I have 2 back-to-back sessions from 1-3pm. It’s always a mad rush to get home to collect Sadie before sprinting to school for 3.25pm. Phoebe is in reception class and they always get out early! I am usually greeted with some cardboard creation that she has lovingly made for me!
We usually wander home for a short while before returning to pick Holly up at 4.15pm as she stays for arts and crafts on a Tuesday.
It’s nice to finally get in for the night even though I then have to sort tea and do housework/homework etc. My husband’s job involves him being abroad for weeks at a time so it’s often just the girls and me. After tea and a bit of a play, they all have a bath and get ready for bed. As they all love books, it’s 3 lots of bedtime stories before I can finally come downstairs to sort through any emails or admin I may have to do for Musical Minis.
My days can be very busy but it’s great that I have a job that I can work around my family. I always do the school run; attend any sports days, concerts, assemblies etc. Plus there aren’t many jobs where you can take your toddler to work with you! I can’t imagine going back to my previous role as a full time teacher now. I feel I have the best of both worlds; I still get to work with children, which I love but I don’t have to sacrifice time with my own to do it so I feel very lucky.
Musical Minis Durham runs classes in Belmont, Chester Le Street, Durham, Lanchester and Newton Hall. For details about classes and to book online please click here . Louise can be contacted by email at [email protected]