One of the consequences of my husband and I running a business together and working from home is that Little I gets to hear a lot of conversations about work. Good or bad, it’s inevitable, and I actually see it as a positive that she has some transparency over what we do for a living. She will often ask me questions about what I’m working on, and she’s familiar with the names of all of our clients. She’s needed to grasp since quite a young age the importance of me needing time to work, and I’d far rather she understands what I’m doing than think I’m just disappearing on her.

What’s been interesting though is that in recent weeks she’s started to model some of my conversation about work, and particularly the discussions that I have with friends who are in a similar industry.

When the sun was out last weekend, we went for a beautiful stroll along the beach with Little I’s dolls pram and her baby Barry (who is in fact a girl!). Soon into the walk, she piped up: “I can’t be too long as I have an important conference call to get back for”. She then went on to say that it was Barry’s birthday next week, but she was so busy with work that she didn’t know when she was going to have time to organise her party. “It’s so difficult juggling work and a baby, there’s always so much to do” she added.

Yes, she really used the word “juggling”, which she can only have got from me. I had no idea how closely she’s been listening in to my conversations!

She then went on to mimic a conversation that I’d had with my husband earlier in the day. ”On top of everything, the car insurance needs sorting out too. I need to look online for a good quote. But I’m hoping Barry’s Daddy will help me with this.”

It was genuinely the sweetest conversation ever, and my Mum told me that she had a very similar conversation with Little I when they went for a walk together earlier in the week. It’s very touching that she looks up to me as her role model, and wants to imitate me. We always put her first and before our work, but the reality is that we need to make a living and I’m proud of Little I for being so accepting of that.

When we got home, she proceeded to make her important business phone call, and then went on her pink (fake) laptop to search for insurance quotes. Next up, she has Barry’s birthday cake to make…