Vomit, Sausages and a Mindset Reset

Well, this past week was fun.

And by fun, I mean it started with my middle child walking into the bathroom while I was in the shower to casually inform me that he had vomited all over my bed.

Great.

Nothing says “fresh start to the week” quite like standing in the shower, shampoo in your hair, mentally calculating how much washing you now have to do, while also accepting that whatever plans you had for the day have officially left the building.

So, I rang work, let them know what had happened, and then somehow still managed to get the other two kids ready for the day. I dropped them off, got my middle child to the doctor, and just like that, I was off work until Thursday.

At first, I felt stressed. Annoyed. Guilty, even.

There was work to do. There were things I was supposed to get through. Jobs were piling up, emails waiting, tasks sitting there with my name on them.

But then something shifted.

What started as one sick child turned into another one being home too, and somewhere in the middle of the vomiting, the doctor’s appointments, the washing, the cuddles, the slow mornings and the disrupted plans, I realised something.

Work can wait.

And not in a lazy way. Not in a “I don’t care” way. But in a very real, very necessary way.

I have been putting so much pressure on myself to get everything done. To be across everything. To show up at work, show up for the kids, show up for my future, show up for the business I want to build, show up for the house I want to buy, show up for the version of myself I am trying so hard to become.

But the truth is, I don’t have to do it all at once.

And honestly? My job is not important enough for me to run myself into the ground over it.

If it were that important, I would be making a hell of a lot more money than I am.

That might sound blunt, but it was exactly what I needed to realise.

I do not live to work. I work so I can create a good life for myself and my boys.

Somewhere along the way, I think I forgot that. I got so caught up in trying to prove myself, establish myself, keep up, do the right thing, and be “responsible” that I forgot the whole point.

The point is not to be exhausted.

The point is not to be constantly chasing my tail.

The point is not to give my best to a job and then come home with scraps left over for my children.

The point is them.

It has always been them.

By the time the weekend rolled around, my parents had taken my youngest, so it was just my two older boys and me. And honestly, it was nice. Really nice.

We went to Auskick on Friday, then came home and watched movies while eating sausages. Nothing fancy. Nothing Instagram-perfect. Just simple, tired, cosy, real life.

On Saturday, we went swimming.

On Sunday, we went swimming again.

And for once, I didn’t try to cram the weekend full of errands and jobs and all the things I “should” be doing. I slowed it down. I let it be simple. I let the boys enjoy themselves. I let myself breathe.

The weekend became a reset.

The kids had been sick. I had been stressed. My mind had been racing for weeks about work, money, business, goals, the future, the house, and how I am supposed to make all of this happen on one income.

And I needed the pause.

I needed to stop long enough to remember why I am doing all of this in the first place.

So now, I feel like I am starting again.

I have printed planners for my wall. I have mapped out a morning routine, an afternoon routine, my non-negotiables, and a weekend plan. I am trying to get clear on what actually matters and what I need to focus on.

Not in a frantic, overwhelming way.

In a steady way.

A “one step at a time” way.

I want structure, but I do not want to become a slave to the structure. I want routines that help me feel grounded, not routines that make me feel like I am failing if one of the kids vomits all over my bed before 8 am on a Monday.

I am also trying to work out how to build something for myself.

My blog. My podcast. Affiliate programs. Business ideas. A secondary income. Something that gives me more options and more freedom.

After speaking with my broker and looking at interest rates, the reality hit me hard. Buying a decent home for the boys and me on one income is going to be incredibly difficult. Maybe not impossible, but definitely not easy.

So I have given myself six months.

Six months to build a second income stream.

Six months to try to create something that can bring in enough money to help cover a mortgage.

Ideally, I want to be earning around $1,000 in business income, with about $700 of that paid to me. I do not know exactly how that is going to happen yet. I do not have the full plan perfectly mapped out.

But I know I need to start.

I need ideas. I need focus. I need to stop doubting myself and start backing myself.

Because I am a smart woman.

And if I slow down, concentrate, and work through it step by step, I know I can build something. Maybe it will not happen overnight. Maybe it will look different to how I imagine it right now. But I know I am capable of more than just surviving.

And the drive behind it all is my boys.

Having them home sick made me realise how much I have been focusing on establishing myself in work and business, but forgetting why I am doing it.

I do not want money just for the sake of money.

I want money so I can give my boys a good life.

I want to take them away. I want to create memories with them. I want a home that feels safe and like ours. I want to be able to say yes more often. I want to give them stability, adventure, comfort, and a mum who is not constantly stretched so thin that she has nothing left.

That is what I need to concentrate on.

Not proving myself to people who are not paying me enough to carry the stress I have been carrying.

Not chasing some impossible standard of being the perfect employee, perfect mum, perfect woman, perfect everything.

Just building a life that feels good for us.

This week reminded me that slowing down does not mean falling behind.

Sometimes slowing down is what helps you see clearly again.

Sometimes the reset comes through vomit on the bed, sick kids, cancelled work days, sausages on the couch, swimming two days in a row, and realising that the world does not fall apart just because you stop trying to hold everything together for five minutes.

So now I am getting back to it.

Not rushing.

Not spiralling.

Not trying to do everything at once.

Just focusing on the next right things.

The things I need to do now are simple:

Get my routines in place.

Make my home feel calmer.

Be more present with my boys.

Work on my business consistently.

Build a second income.

Stop giving so much of myself to things that do not give enough back.

And remember, every single day, why I am doing this.

I am not just working for money.

I am building a life.

For me.

For my boys.

For the version of us that gets to feel safe, happy, free, and proud of how far we have come.