I am very new to cake decorating and l love it. I have a wonderful husband and a two year old daughter. I had a conversation the other day with my dh that go me wondering. Those of you who do this for fun or even as a home business and you have a family, how do you balance everything. I am typical "peace-maker" and a perfectionist too. So of course I feel like I should be able to do everything for everyone all the time. I really want to develop some skills in caking. Not sure if I ever want a full time business . . . Either way I don't want my family to suffer. My dh is not as enthusiastic as I am about my new found passion. Though he is supportive.

Balance is hard! I have a full-time day job, my kids are 4,3,1, and right now I have 7 more wedding cakes on the books for this year as well as plenty of other types of cakes. It's a good thing my office job is flexible so I bring my kids with me sometimes to spend more time with them. My husband also helps out at home by doing stuff for me and with the kids; he's very supportive and that makes a difference. You just learn to organize your time really well so you can get to everything. We are very strict about not doing anything on Sunday, so I have a whole day to just be with the kids; we take walks, take them out for fun stuff, etc. During the week, I have lists for everything I want to accomplish at home, at the office, with cake stuff, etc. in a day so I don't waste any time and can use any downtime to do stuff with my kids or get ahead somewhere else. We women just want to have everything, do everything, and I can't seem to say no to anything Good luck with your goals!

This subject has been discussed many times here on CC! We are all suffering from that same dilemna!

My dh was supportive to a point, but he often grumbled that I spent more time in the bakery than with the family. And he complained that we could never do anything/go anywhere spontaneously because I always had cakes to do!

So my compromise was to always keep one weekend a month cake-free. I also stopped doing b-day cakes and focused on higher-end wedding cakes. (less cake=more money) As for not being with the family on Friday evenings....well, sometimes I just set-up my decorating on the kitchen table so I could at least be close to them and semi-watch our fav TV show together.

Sure, I had to make some sacrifices and miss some things, but on the positive side, having the in-home business allowed me to be able to be involved with my kids activities.

My husband's solo activity is fishing- and mine is ICES. I went to our state meetings, cake competitions and ICES conventions and learned lots of new decorating techniques to improve my skills.

It's a tough situation that everyone needs to figure out what works best for them and their family. Good luck!

{hugs}

I bake about 3 cakes a month for family and friends only. I bake a cake on Monday night and chill the cake in the refrigerator. Wednesday Crumb Coat the cake, Friday Decorate and Deliver cake to friend or family member.

I have a busy schedule, I am 24 years old, have 4 year old triplets, work part time as a systems analyst and completing my MBA at NYU, My husband is 26 years old works also full time as a CPA accountant teachers yoga on Saturdays, and teaches accounting classes at a local college on Monday and Wedesday nights. We still have time to do activities together.

Carry a small calendar with you and also have a daily to do list

I tell the family to get out of my way I have a cake to do!!!

My hubby now knows when we travel and we see a cake or craft store that we ARE going to stop and no longer argues about it.

Just my hubby and me - kids are grown but I make cakes for a charity (about 100 a year) and Hubby helps me come up with ideas since I get to choose what I do for each cake.

I pretty much do "cake stuff" in the evenings after my 2 year old son is in bed for the night. My DH is around the house doing whatever while I work on whatever cake process for the evening. And I spread it out throughout the week like bundtdiva mentioned so I really never do more than one a week and that is not EVERY week.

So the family/cake balance is pretty much worked out for me...just need to figure out the cake/sleep balance next!

Yes this can be a tough one...but the key is organization. I usu. work on cake stuff after my husband and I put the kids (ages 7,5) to bed. But I find that if I don't make a plan, or stick to the one I made, then things get hectic. It seems now-a-days I need to plan everything down to the minute! It just something that takes time...how ironic, huh, since usually it's "time" that we need more of

You can do stuff in the evenings, or mornings, or when your DH is away at work. Just one piece at a time, and clean as you go to make it easier on everyone, including you!

I know a commercial bakery that bakes/freezes Monday, prepares the cake boards, buttercream and colors on Tuesday, fills and ices on Weds. or Thurs, then decorates Thurs or Friday for a Friday/Saturday pickup/delivery.

Doing a little at a time like that might be helpful to you and others that need to space stuff out to keep a better balance between caking and the rest of life!

Good luck!

There is a way to balance? I work full time, have two children under 4 and a BF who has more hobbies than a person should. Saying there is not enough time in the day is an understatement.

I definately feel guilty some nights when he is bathing the kids and putting them to bed while I am glued to my mixer.

I should have been prepping the last two nights for my orders due this weekend, but instead, stayed on the couch reading books to my daughter. Let me tell you, I felt so much better and her attitude was alot better towards me also.

I think I am going to have to do the "not take any orders one weekend a month" thing. For my sanity and the sanity of my family.

Rope. Tie the daughter, and hubby together, and you go make a cake. Tell them don't hollar about it they get to eat cake when they get untied.

Mike

Rope. Tie the daughter, and hubby together, and you go make a cake. Tell them don't hollar about it they get to eat cake when they get untied.

Mike

Duct tape works good too, hee hee.

Velcro works too Mike!!

I am lucky that my DH has been very supportive throughout the years...I started my part-time business six years ago to be able to be at home for my kids, rather than in an office (the office was not very supportive of families and their needs). My part-time business very quickly turned itself into a full-time business, which I had to learn how to scale back to fit our family (a very hard thing to do!!). I work regular business hours from 8:30am to about 3pm most days, and schedule Mondays off (most Sundays too - if I have to work a Sunday, then I take an extra day off during the week). This business is very weekend oriented, so I usually end up working most Saturdays. But, I do not work evenings - that is family time.

One other thing that I do now that has really helped is to schedule my wedding consultations to one Sunday a month (thanks to a very helpful thread on this site!). It has made for one busy Sunday, but my family life has gotten a lot easier - no more consultations taking up evenings!

Oh, I could use velcro! My dh is the velcro king, but that is a whole different story! Thank you all for the reply's! Many great tips and ideas.

Disney comes in very handy when I really need to focus works just as good as velcro.

I just want to share....I work full time, go to school full time (last semester to graduate), a lovely husband, a beautiful 10 month old daughter and I love cakes....(I know too much things in my plate)....I was not even sleeping much or taking care of the things I needed to...so I decided to slow down with the cakes until I graduate in august and maybe I go part time so I can dedicate more time to cakes....