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How Having A Baby Made Us Entrepreneurs

May 25, 2012

Looking from the outside in, some would say that 6 months after having your first child isn’t the ideal time to start a business. I used to agree.

Jude one day old

Now however, I would pose a question in return, “Or could it actually be the ideal time, because after all, when is the ideal time to have a baby?”

Is it when you finish school?

Is it when you pay off all your debt?

Is it when you finally get your business up and running?

Is the ideal time when you buy a house, because surely you can’t have a baby while living in an apartment! (Dresser drawers are just the right size for an infant to sleep in, by the way.)

Is it when you have the money to buy an SUV because your old Honda Civic isn’t rated first for safety and you wouldn’t want to risk an accident?

I am here to put the thought into your head that now just might be the ideal time.

I’m not saying don’t wisely prepare, but I am saying there is no ideal time. We waited for 8 years for the ideal time. It never came.

Here are 5 ways in which having a baby catapulted us into a fuller life and also helped us become entrepreneurs.

1. We had a deadline. When you have to get something done by a certain time, you find ways to get it done. You just do. When we realized I was pregnant, it gave us a swift kick in the butt and got our lives moving.

2. We want to have a great marriage for our children. There is now extra motivation to work on our marriage issues. When it was just the two of us, it was easy to ignore issues because we had all the time in the world to resolve them. Therefore, we didn’t. Now, time is a valuable commodity and it is vital that we are on the same page with life and all the details therein.

3. Less time = more productivity. Somehow when you think your time is endless, you don’t tend to use it wisely. I find the less time I have, the more productive I am with the time that I do have.

In the past 10 months we have… had a baby, started and maintained a blog posting 7 days a week, and started a business. That’s more than we ever accomplished in the first 5 years of our marriage.

4. We couldn’t be so self-centered anymore. When we had Jude, there was someone else to take care of. It wasn’t just us anymore. Plus, it gave us the extra kick in the pants to create the life we wanted rather than just be blown in random directions by whichever wind happened to be blowing at the time.

5. No pain, no gain. Haha, literally with birthing! But the reality is you have to tear muscle tissue to build stronger muscles. I think the same is true in life. We have found the hardest times in our lives have propelled us into the most amazing times if we let ourselves learn from them.

Having kids only has to hold you back if you let it. Who says you can’t travel or start and scale a business or do many more things with a family? Kids are awesomely flexible and just need attentive, loving parents, not all the stuff.

We have found our lives to be richer, fuller, more meaningful, and more productive since the addition of Jude. And honestly, without him, we would probably still be sitting on the couch watching reruns of Seinfeld.

Question: If you have children, how soon did it change your life?

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  • Joe Lalonde May 25, 2012 at 6:27 am

    No children yet. Just under 7 and a half years of marriage.

    • Alana Mokma May 25, 2012 at 8:41 am

      Joe, my husband and I live in Grand Rapids and also have no children. Would you be interested in meeting up sometime – the four of us?

      • Joe Lalonde May 26, 2012 at 9:05 am

        Alana, Pam and I would love to do that. Maybe get together for dinner or coffee or something?

    • Claudia Good May 25, 2012 at 12:43 pm

      Joe,
      It’s an exciting adventure… that’s for sure 🙂

  • Ann Musico May 25, 2012 at 7:02 am

    Claudia – I am right there with you! There is no perfect time and if you wait for the perfect time to have children – chances are you never will! There will always be “something.” It was a little different for us – I was 29 and Alex was 33 – we got married and had Chris 15 months later! He didn’t make a lot of money teaching then – we lived in Chattanooga. We agreed I would not work outside the home when the kids were small and I always did something from home to help. We have 3 beautiful children – and I lost 2 in between – actually I was pregnant most of the first 10 years of our marriage lol! I would change or trade one single minute. By the way – your #3 on the list is one I absolutely find to be totally true in my life – the busier I am – the more I seem to get done. When things are quiet and calm (occasionally!) I tend to not get as much done.

    • Alana Mokma May 25, 2012 at 8:44 am

      I agree with Ann. I get frustrated because I don’t have a lot of free time on my hands, but I do seem to get more accomplished when I have less time. I can write a blog post in 10-20 minutes during my lunch, but if I attempt to write one on a night I set aside specifically for writing/reading – it can take me up to an hour or two for ONE post!

      This is a good reminder for me… I keep wishing I worked part time so I would have more time to work on my own business… but that “more time” doesn’t equal more productivity.

      • Claudia Good May 25, 2012 at 12:39 pm

        I hear ya Alana,
        I learned this in highschool when I was in multiple plays and musicals. We had hours of practice every day after school and time to study and write papers was very limited. My grades were better than ever during that time 😉

    • Claudia Good May 25, 2012 at 12:33 pm

      Wow Ann,
      Pregnant for the first 10 years!!! Isn’t amazing what we can do when we have the drive and desire to do so!

      I really love hearing your stories of life and children 🙂 Maybe you could write a book 🙂

      • Ann Musico May 25, 2012 at 12:39 pm

        Thank you Claudia – that’s sweet of you to say. Maybe if things stay busy enough – I just might lol!

        • Claudia Good May 25, 2012 at 12:40 pm

          haahaha, yes I think you probably will… I’ll come to your book signing! 😉

  • Michael Wright May 25, 2012 at 7:35 am

    Claudia, the Queen and I were married for 10 years before our girl arrived. It really wasn’t planned at all though. We were holding off for a host of reasons including my wife’s health mostly, but God knew the right timing. There is no perfect time to do alot of the big things in life. You plan as much as possible, jump in and re-adjust along the way.
    Travel is one of those things we never did too much of before our daughter arrived, except one big trip to Scotland, but now I’m thinking how cool it would be to plan cost effective trips to other states or countries even – all because we have a daughter! Plus, if you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she always says she is going to be a pilot, and that I will serve the food and drinks for her. 🙂

    • Claudia Good May 25, 2012 at 12:31 pm

      That’s right Michael 🙂

      Hahaha, sounds like your little girl knows where she is going… and she wants her daddy beside her all the way! cute.

      Where would you guys like to travel to?

      • Michael Wright May 25, 2012 at 1:52 pm

        Something very short the first time! To see if my girl really likes planes! She is a little unpredictable sometimes. Things I think will scare her, she will laugh at and vice-versa.
        I would love to let her visit Wash DC in a few years. I loved it when I went back in High school.

        • Claudia Good May 29, 2012 at 9:03 pm

          Michael, that would be tricky!DC would be close to us… well, fairly close. Did you take a class trip to DC in high school?

  • Kent Julian May 27, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    I love this post, Michael and Claudia. Love it!!!!

    • Claudia Good May 29, 2012 at 9:04 pm

      Kent,
      Hey thanks a lot man! Cheers to you!

  • Ryan Ash June 13, 2012 at 3:53 pm

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS POST! I’d venture to say that it’s my favorite yet! I believe that having Skyler really propelled us, as well. It’s totally changed my outlook on life, and it didn’t really require more stuff. People say that kids are really expensive. I don’t think it’s the kids so much as it is the parents trying to vicariously relive the “perfect” childhood. What a disappointment when those kids become adults and realize the world is not perfect, and doesn’t revolve around them. Skyler’s treasured possession for the last two days has been a small, plain orange sticker that he got for being my “big helper.” He’s even been sleeping with it! Kids may need time from us, but they certainly don’t require us to work more to buy them stuff. Opinionated? Maybe… 🙂

    • Claudia Good June 13, 2012 at 9:49 pm

      Wow, thanks Ryan!
      hahaa… what?? Parents trying to live vicariously through their kids?? Unheard of! 😉

      Awww, I love Skyler and his orange sticker story. What a dear, dear boy! And yes, I think it is wonderful that he enjoys such simple things. Jude played with a spoon for months. Still one of his favorite toys 🙂

      • Ryan Ash June 14, 2012 at 12:07 am

        You should see Skyler’s “toybox” ( a laundry basket ) right now. A lot of the contents are various kitchen towels, wash clothes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, strings, papers, etc. He’s got some regular toys, too, but he actually prefers playing with those simple things a lot of the time.

        • Claudia Good June 14, 2012 at 1:03 pm

          haaha I love it. Jude is playing with a q-tip as I write this 🙂

  • Derek C. Olsen December 5, 2013 at 11:08 am

    Perfect. Thanks. I needed this. My wife and I are due with our first in April!

    • Michael Good December 5, 2013 at 2:13 pm

      Wow. Congrats, Derek! You’re going to love it. Having a baby was the best thing that ever happened to us.

  • Jason and Chelsea White November 22, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    We just finished reading your post together and WE LOVED IT. We’re expecting our first child in March of 2015.

    • Claudia Good November 23, 2014 at 9:49 pm

      Awesome guys! Congratulations!!! What a blessing!

      Kids rock your world in every way, which is wonderful because thats what makes/forces us to grow!!!! But they also bring such joy, innocence, and creativity to the table. I love that because it keeps my perspective fresh 😉

    • Michael Good November 24, 2014 at 11:00 am

      Wow, congrats, guys!