Free Little Kids, Big City: Tales from a Real House in New York City (With Lessons on Life and Love for Your Own Concrete Jungle) by Alex McCord, Simon van Kempen

nanny. Simon sensed something was wrong and dragged me into the bathroom, where I completely broke down, crying hysterically and hyperventilating. Sometimes you need to just give up being strong for a minute or two, and in that moment Simon understood that I needed to vent by crying, which he let me do in a safe, child-free space.
    Later that month, I was ready to resign from my job, reverse Simon’s vasectomy and have five more children. In Ohio on a business day trip, all I wanted in the world was to fly home on time so I could still put my boys to bed. Instead of doing that, I was stuck in an airport terminal because of bad weather. Just as we thought we were cleared, John McCain, then desperately campaigning for president, pulled his jet into our hangar—they were also fighting the weather. The security caused our takeoff to be bumped from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Then we got diverted to Morristown, New Jersey and I finally crawled into the house after 1 a.m. Even if I had been his greatest supporter, I would be mad. I love working, I really, really do, but my boys are more important.
     

    At an Event Alex Threw for Second Time Around

     
    Back then I worked full time for Victoria’s Secret corporate in their New York office, keeping me away from home 50 hours per week and a lot more when I traveled. In early 2009 I was laid off, and when that happened, my first thought was to get the next office job I could. Working from home didn’t occur to me until one day, a Facebook message led me to a designer consignment company, Second Time Around, that would become my first client. I saw an opportunity that could help both me and my family, and used the severance package from VS to go into business for myself. While I love being my own boss, one of the hardest things I’ve found about being a working mom is working from home. These days I work with a number of retail clients doing everything from graphic design to store fixtures to event planning. I can work from anywhere, which allows me to take care of my clients and also be able to participate in things I never could before, such as volunteering one day a week at school lunch and chaperoning field trips on occasion. We went from being a dual-nine-to-five-parent family where permission slips sometimes were forgotten, to a family where both parents contribute and school projects become a group activity.
    It didn’t happen overnight—the first summer was difficult. Still figuring out the work-from-home model, I would find myself hiding in the basement office (aka the bat cave) with the door closed, signing the kids up for any activity I could find or asking our nanny to take them to the park. A few times I found myself trying to work with the kids crowding around the computer asking to watch videos on YouTube of an octopus eating a shark or the Wiggles or a Batman made out of Legos. Now, between school, after-school activities and scheduling my work commitments with the kids in mind, I try as best I can to minimize the times I can’t give them my full attention. They have also gotten used to me working at home, and know that when Mommy is on the computer, she’s working and can’t stop to play go fish, but she will when she’s finished.
    On that note I think children are capable of understanding quite a lot, which we grown-ups sometimes forget. When your children are busy, it helps them understand that you are busy, and sets them up to be effective individuals. As they grow older, another situation develops. They begin to be your allies in keeping the household peaceful. The boys are more likely (sometimes) to follow my direction to be quiet if I add that Daddy is sleeping, because they now know what it’s like to be awakened by noise. I’ve overheard Simon telling François to “put down those high heels because Mommy will be cranky if she sees you wearing them.” Cranky because of the noise, not that I’m worried he’ll turn into a drag queen.
     
    Simon
    I was