A Day in the Life of Debbie Caygill, Franchisee for Newcastle

Usually our day begins at 5.55am when Sam, will come into our room and slide into bed next to me, closely followed by my daughter, Amy.  Although there is no real need for the alarm clock, my husbands alarm goes off at 6.30am and he goes for a quick shower while I lie for another 10 minutes talking to the children.  I am then followed into the bathroom by both children and Sam always comes into the shower with me.  I quickly dry my hair, and Sam’s, and then we join Daddy downstairs.  Chris, my husband, usually has juice on the table for Amy & Sam and a coffee for me, after hugs and kisses he is off to work at 7am. 

 After breakfast we all go upstairs, get washed and brush our teeth.  I then find it works best to get the children dressed and get them downstairs watching Peppa Pig before I dress myself.  Amy started school last September so it takes half the time to get dressed now as she has little choice over what she wears, the only decision is whether to wear a dress or a skirt.  Sam, being only 2, hasn’t developed the need to try everything on in his wardrobe yet, before deciding on what to wear for the day, so I choose his clothes and quickly get him ready.  We are potty training at the moment too so I make sure he has been to the potty before dressing him. 

 Children ready and I get a few moments to myself while they watch TV and Amy decides on what she would like doing with her hair today.  I get dressed and load my car with everything I will need for the day ahead.  Sunday night I look at my diary for the week and see what lesson plan I am doing, which story and what prop to take for musical bumps.  Be prepared…that is definitely something a remembered from guides.  That is one thing I really liked about the Musical Minis franchise, everything is done for you.  On buying the franchise you are given 14 lesson plans, plus extra’s for Christmas, Summer & Easter, so each week you know exactly what you are going to do.  All I have to do is decide on what story and which prop for the week.  At the start of each term I make a diary for that term with the lesson number, the story and the prop for each week.  On a Sunday night I get everything ready at the front of the garage and all I need to do is load the car up on a morning.  I also check my register for the week to see if it’s anyone’s birthday, any new siblings or attendance certificates to print off.  So after loading the car I do Amy’s hair, which in itself is an almighty task, then shoes on and most morning we are out the house by 8.30am to avoid the traffic.

 Mondays Sam comes with me to Musical Minis along with my mum, Tuesday is my day off.  Well when I say day off it’s not really a day off, I would say it’s my non Musical Minis day as this is the day I clean the house, clear out my emails, do the shopping, banking and anything else that has been neglected during the rest of the week.  Wednesdays Sam goes to stay at one of his gran’s houses and then Thursdays and Fridays he attends nursery.  All days are the same up to the point we leave the house on a morning. 

 After dropping Amy off at school I go onto my classes.  My earliest class starts at 10am, this gives me plenty of time to travel to where I need to be without being too stressed by morning traffic.  Mondays I have 2 private classes and then once a fortnight I come home, Sam goes to my mum’s and I then travel to a nursery to start a class at 2.30pm.  The other week I travel straight onto a Children’s Centre and run a session at 1pm, my mum & Sam pop to Sainsbury’s or Pets at home for an hour, then we come home and collect Amy from school.  I have my lunch in the car and since Christmas, when my husband bought me a phone with email access, I use this time to check my emails and reply to any enquiries.  I am able to collect Amy from school most nights, when I can’t my Mum and mother-in-law help.  Amy then has gym class on a Wednesday night and swimming on a Thursday so it’s usually a mad rush those nights to collect from school, get to where we need to be and then home for tea. 

 Chris doesn’t usually get home until around 6.15pm-6.30pm so we can’t all eat together at the moment, although we often go out for tea on a Saturday altogether.  I sit at the table with the children while they have their tea and we catch up on the days events.  I usually start cooking my husband and my tea then too, wash any dishes and reply to any phone enquiries.  Chris’ job is bath-time at 6.30pm, while I catch up on any emails or jobs that need to be done.  We get the children ready for bed and they then like to sit in Amy’s room and have a story together before I take Sam off to bed around 7pm.  Amy then reads a book to Daddy while I finish cooking our tea ready for when Chris comes downstairs at 7.30pm.  Some nights if I have more work to catch up with he will go downstairs and finish tea while I finish off. We then have time to relax, have tea and watch TV before bed.  

 My new phone has been a godsend, now instead of replying to emails on an evening I do this during the day and have the evenings free to spend quality time with my husband.  Anything I need to spend more time on I find time during bath time, my “day off” or on a weekend….when I don’t have a party booking! All my classes are well established now and most of my members join through word of mouth.  I usually email or post letters 2 or 3 times a year to nurseries and Children’s Centres with information about the classes. 

 I wanted a career to fit around my family, not the other way round.  My family are my main priority, I wanted a job where I could drop them off at school, pick them up after and be there during school holidays too.  I choose my hours and as I am in a child orientated environment if I need time off for assemblies at school or a nursery show I am able to do this.  My daughter has even been along to the classes with me on teacher training days when her school has been closed. I have been very lucky to find such a rewarding job, where else could I work and get kisses and cuddles every day and be able to take my children with me.