Since I was a little girl I wanted to be a mummy. I would play with my dollies, dressing them, feeding them, taking them for walks. They all had names and I dreamed of the day I would have a real baby of my own. Since Pumpkin was born, I have of course had a real reality check. Looking after a real baby is not something you can ever prepare for! But I love it all the same.

When I went back to my career in November, I realised very quickly that I wasn’t happy. I suddenly found the corporate world very shallow and discovered that my own career aspirations had gone out the window. All that mattered to me was that my little baby girl was happy and healthy, and that I was there to witness her grow up.

So since Christmas hubby and I have been crunching the numbers to see if there was any way I could be more flexible with my working arrangements. And it turned out that I could.

I have left now my employment and am officially self employed. Doing what you might ask? Well I have my own Phoenix Trading business which I am really enjoying. I have lots of plans to develop it! I have also registered as a mystery shopper with a number of companies which offers a fun way to earn some extra pennies. Plus there is this blog which has already provided me with many fab opportunities and I am hoping there are more to come. I have about a million other ideas for earning extra cash, some of which I will be developing over the coming months (and sharing here!).

Pumpkin has settled really well at nursery and gets some fantastic opportunities that she would not get at home. I also believe that as  an only child its important for her to mix with other children. So we have decided to change from 2 days a week at nursery to one. Plus her Thursdays with Grandma will continue which gives me 2 days a week to focus on earning. I am really looking forward to having the extra day each week with my baby girl, plus she can have a shorter day at nursery (picking her up at 4.30 rather than 6).

Is it scary? Yes. Do we have less financial security now? Yes. Is it the right thing to do for our family? Yes definitely.