The Best Change of All
I know you haven’t seen a lot of me lately, but I’m still around. This move has been a huge effort and things are calming down. Soon, I will have more time to put into blogging and making new materials…but not just because the move is almost over.
For several years, my husband, Bruce, and I have talked about him quitting his job in the corporate world and joining me full time with Montessori for Everyone. There’s so much more that could be done with MFE, but with me also homeschooling it’s hard to expand the business.
Our new house has an office (one of the many things we love about it!) and as I was sitting in the office last week contemplating Bruce’s longer commute (1 hr. and 20 minutes each way into downtown Chicago), I decided that now was the right time for him to work with me full time. Having an office means we would have a lot more room than we did at our previous house, and we could swap office time/kid time so that we’d each be able to get more done.
I mentioned it to him that evening, and to my surprise he had been thinking the same thing. The next day, he went in to his job and gave notice. He’ll be leaving at the beginning of November, and then Montessori for Everyone will officially be “our” business, not just mine!
I am very excited for this new development. Shouldering all of the childcare, homeschooling, housekeeping, and running of a business has been a lot (probably too much) for me to handle especially the past two years or so as my business has grown so much. Now I do not have to “go it alone”.
Moving to one income will be a bit of a challenge (although I have been the primary breadwinner for the past two years), but we are looking hard at our budget and we’ll make it work. The benefits are enormous: more time for him to be with the kids, a lighter burden for me, and more “stuff” from Montessori for Everyone. We all win!
Thanks for being patient during our move; I appreciate your supportive comments and encouragement so much. I look forward to even greater things for MFE in the years to come!
Lori,
This is wonderful! I’m so glad for you! My husband left the corporate world about 3 1/2 years ago and works for himself from home now. It has been so wonderful, and family life couldn’t be better. Just this Monday, we all went to the Pumpkin patch together because he can move his schedule around. I wouldn’t trade it for the world! There are those times where it’s just beans and rice for dinner, but we don’t mind one bit ! I tell the kids they are very lucky to be able to enjoy family life like this, as many other mom’s and dad’s have to go off to work outside the home.
Take Care, and don’t forget to take a breather after all that work from moving!
-Susana
http://www.montessoricandy.com
Well done, both of you!
We love, love, love the days when my husband (who still does corporate but also does a lot of freelance from home) is here. It’s great for me, it’s great for the kids, and sometimes the laundry even gets folded
Congratulations Lori [and employee]! Best wishes to you both!
Lori,
I know first hand how hard you have worked these last two years to care for my darling grandchildren, develop and run a growing, successful business, keep a neat, clean house and be a loving wife to Bruce. At times it has been overwhelming and taken a toll on you, but you are such a faithful, hard worker and have kept everything going. I’m very proud of you! The exciting thing is that God was leading both of you, esp. Bruce, in making this decision to join the business full time. I’m happy for you both and know that you’ll need lots of patience and cooperation as you put your heads together to make MFE even better. My prayers will be with you always, and I’m available to babysit! Much love,
Mom
Congratulations!! That is a great decision…we love having our family together..so we all live together…gma, grand aunt & our little family. I hope your business will be twice as successful with your partner. Get him to work !!!
Thanks to you all! We are very excited. We do have some friends who work from home together, so we know it can be done. We just know it will be a bit of a transition (and we’ll have to take our negotiating skills up a notch) but the kids are already excited about having more time with daddy. So that’s going to be great.
Lori~ That is wonderful & exciting news! I love how the Lord was leading both of you to this decision, having that unity is a blessing. Congratulations to Bruce on the new job! It is such a blessing to have a husband whose job allows for flexible hours. And I’m so impressed with the scale of your MFE business, way to go! Best to you both!
Lori,
I am so excited and happy for you!!!! Just reading the blog post my smile got bigger and bigger. What wonderful news! I’m so thrilled that you and Bruce were both contemplating the same thing at the same time. Nice confirmation. Congrats Bruce! You get extra hubby-brownie-points!
Really, it’s great news and I will pray that your transition and the future of MFE will be blessed beyond your dreams!
Much love to you, dear friend!
Andrea
Congratulations on the brave new change! I’m excited for you two and wish you the best.
Hi Lori,
What great news! I know for a fact it’s nice to work with you.
What a blessing this will be for your family. And what a blessing that you have such a supportive mom who understands and supports where your family is being led. It sounds like such a G0d-thing.
Thanks for providing such wonderful products.
Deb
What a great surprise!! Such wonderful news Lori! I’ll be praying for your smooth transition inton working together at home, what a joy!! You must be so happy
Congrats Lori to you and your family! You do such a great job already that I am wondering how you are going to top it? I look forward to what’s ahead for you and Bruce.
Blessings,
John