Tax Time

Well this stay at home mom has been working quite a lot recently. I mentioned once, in a blog about increasing the income line of my budget, that I had put my own sign out front. That sign says Tax Preparer and these past few weeks I've been cranking out tax returns like there is no tomorrow. And soon enough, there won't be a tomorrow because the tax deadline is looming large. What a relief that will be, right? Work all done, taxes filed away, time to relax and rest with the kids instead of juggle them and my work, keeping the house tidy and organized so as not to frighten clients off - I mean, who wants crazy messy mom lady to do their taxes? And a yard strewn with plastic toys, newly revealed by the thawing snows of winter, and a foyer littered with muddy boots and cast off cloth diapers says nothing greater than, "Crazy Messy Mom Lady Right Here!"

Another time I mentioned that as long as I didn't try to do anything other than care for my children, I was able to keep my cool. Well, certainly I have had a bit of an adjustment these past few weeks. I really didn't put a lot of thought into opening a tax preparer business beyond making a few extra bucks to pay the plow man and maybe actually fill the oil tank up all the way at least once this season. In fact I have now had to really put a lot of thought into what I am doing. There is quite a demand for tax people in my neck of the woods and I have been a lot busier than I ever anticipated. It is great! And it is work. And it has gotten the old wheels turning in my brain, those entrepreneurial wheels that sort of screeched to a halt when a baby rattle fell into their works.

And now I find myself unable to stop! Tax season is over in a few days and to fill the gap until next year I am starting up a payroll business. And my children are no worse for Mom wearing business casual clothes around the house. They spend a lot of time clamoring around my office, my desk chair and my newly constructed desk (I stained a pre-cut piece of birch from Lowe's, laid it over two salvaged file cabinets, trimmed it all out with a nice herringbone I had picked up for $1 a yard a few years back) et voila, the tax lady is in. My son says things now like, "did you see my ad this week, Mommy?"

Who knows what tomorrow will bring to our family and my little ventures, but I can't help feeling that keeping ourselves open and accepting power over our income is a good thing, indeed, a necessity.