I use leftover batter for cupcakes that they can decorate and that usually keeps them from eating original cake. Tape trashbags to tabletop and newspaper to floor then just roll up and dump in trash. Anything that gets away can be cleaned up real easy with a shot of simple green. great on greasy messes. We also put on our swimsuits ahead of time so when we finish we all jump in the shower I squirt everyone down and get everyone washed up. It's alot of fun and after that they are ready for a movie and a nap and then I can concentrate on cake. I am lucky that my honey built a big walk in shower so the mess is kept to a minimum.

I have three kids(10, 8, 4) and babysit(6) in the mornings and sometimes after school. All of my kids know that when mommy is baking or decorating that I am working and to stay out of the kitchen. I have just trained them. It wasn't always that way it did take some time. Be patient, they will learn.

I used to do cooking demonstrations and often needed to work from home phoning customers and drumming up business. My children were very young and seemed to get into the most trouble the minute I picked up the phone. I created a "phone box" of toys. I selected a few things that they could only have when I was on the phone working. The minute I got off the phone, I would put away the box. Every few days or so, I would change up what was in the box to keep their interest fresh.

Now that I love to do cakes, the kids are old enough to entertain themselves, but they still remember their "phone boxes". As I work full time outside the home and spend countless hours shuttling kids too and fro, I also find myself doing the bulk of the decorating after the youngest goes to bed at 9:00. The teenagers now keep me company into the wee hours of the night...mostly with prompts to go to bed and leave them alone!

Ok I am still hyperventilating at 8 children....8 oh my goodness, I mean I know of a family with 11 kids and one with 10 but they are all OLD! My husband is one of 5 and my neighbor has 5 and they all tell me after 3 its really no big deal to add another....but come on how can that be?

I dont even know how one person can Stand to be pregnant 8 times!

Telling myself to just breathe.......

Diesel, sounds like you have a great system going, i agree the organization and time management are the ONLY way to do cakes and work and raise kids!I too am a working mother, my kids are 11 and 9 and i'm a single mom, no DH to pick up the slack. People have been telling me for years that i need to strike out on my own and become self employed. That's much less scary with a second income! But I was thinking about getting a grant and "going legal" Until my mother put the breaks on that by opening my eyes to the obvious.
Its fine for me to do the occasional cake for a few extra dollars, but starting a business takes alot of time, time away from my kids who will be going to college in the next 10 years. I can always do cakes later, but they need me now and you all know it goes so fast, before i know it they WILL be out the house and my business will be mine to run. Until then i'm just doing enough to keep my skills up and my name out there until i can grow the business later. As much as i am looking forward to that i know i'm going to miss my babies, hope y'all are still here to cheer me up and cheer me on!

right now i spend sooo much time with my kids that i need some time away from them. i am with them basicly 24-7. i do enjoy them but some time to myself would be great. i guess it works both ways. too much of kids and you want some alone time. too little time with your kids and you want more time with them.

Doitallmom I'm in your boat I have 8 little ones also. 10 month old twins, a 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, and 14 year old. My DH works long hours and is usually tired when he gets in from work so my baking has to be done when everyone is asleep and the house is quiet. I squeeze in decorating sometimes during the day but I find that anywhere from 10:00pm-3:00am to be the best working hours for me although I do pay for it the following day.

I can relate Rosita, I am with my kids 24/7 - they are 2.5 & 10mths old, but the truth is I wouldn't have it any other way.

I work on my cakes, etc when they are napping, or playing (and for some reason they insist on playing right beside me wherever I am in the house), or better yet, after they're in bed. My dh will not hear of me decorating after he's in bed! Getting time to yourself can be difficult, and sometimes I just put them in bed - whether they're tired or not - so I can have some time to myself. They can play and shout the house down for an hour, but it's mommy time and I need it to keep my batteries recharged!

My boys are 3 and almost 8, the youngest isn't in preschool so I have him all the time. He doesn't nap.
I have taught the kids to not touch what I'm doing. They can stand back and watch but we don't touch the cake or we'll mess it up. All they want is a little frosting and the youngest likes fondant.
They're pretty good at playing while I do stuff. It also helps that we live in the country with a big yard and no neighbors to worry about so they can go out and I just have to check on them.

The best advice my mother ever gave me ( we both had 3 kids!) was ALWAYS put your kids to bed EARLY, EARLY, EARLY!!!...When I say early, I MEAN early! I used to have my kids in bed by 6:30 EVERY NIGHT! Yes...that's right...6:30! It's something I had to start from day one, but it worked! I was lucky enough to schedule things so that they would ALL go in at that time, and sleep for 12-14 hours straight!!! Hubby worked 4 nights a week, and it was the ONLY way tohave time to myself! It took lots of planning, and lots of EARLY dinners, which I was lucky enough to do because I was a stay at home mom...ahhh, those were the days...now they are teenagers, and I wish I had the luxury of having my nights free...lol...

It is not easy! I have 4 of my own and keep a friends baby. Today I had three cakes to get out, and my youngest (8 months) was very needy today and wanted to be held. It took me all day to get the cakes ready even after having the cakes baked and the frosting made. Sometimes I am up all night finishing stuff. I'm one of those crazy people who works better under pressure.

yes, give them some fondant to play with. They will have so much fun with it. Mine love it when I work with fondant. They always beg me for a lump of it, and then I get my opportunity to decorate. I always keep some of the Wilton stuff around, just in case I'm using another method for the cake, but they want to "participate". It may taste bad, but it makes for great playdoh!

When I started my kids were 2 and 6. They went to bed at 8:00 and then I worked. I also had a situation where I could use a baby gate to keep them out of the kitchen- they could still see and talk to me but couldn't touch. Just give them creative toys (building blocks, dress up clothes) and it can entertain them for hours. Thier play kitchen got the most use of any other toy we had and they could be "just like mom". However, someone mentioned that this should be worth your time so charge accordingly. THIS IS IMPERATIVE!!!!! No one should ever lose time with family or sleep if they are not making a profit!

Be patient- sooner than you think, they will actually be old enough to help you and that is a blessing!!!

Organization and planning are key, but you must also take care of yourself, you can't pour from an empty cup. I make sure that I build "me" time into my schedule that does not include baking, even if its a 15 minute walk around the block. I work full time and have 2 boys ages 6 and 4. I love cake decorating and find it a wonderful, creative, relaxing hobby. I have no desire to make it into a business, because then it would be stressful and I don't need any more of that! My baking, meals, grocery shopping are pretty much planned for the week, in addition I lay out my kids clothes for the week also. When doing a cake I work backwards in my mind, baking the cake and freezing it, making icing, etc. Most decorating is done after kids are in bed. I don't like being rushed or under pressure.

I have a 18mo old and a 8year old so I usually do mine at night too. Too hard when they are awake. They want to be under my feet.

CakeDiva73 I am very serious. Although I make through the day sometimes it's without eating or much of anything else if I don't shower b4 they wake up in the morning I don't think I would get that in either, but the bright side is one day they will all grow up and go to out of state colleges lol.

I have a 9 mo old, and a 4 yr old. I dont remember who said to put you kids to bed EARLY, but that IS the ticket. Mine go down at 7, the younger one will even go down a little after 6:30 if shes real tired, they both wake up at the same time at 7 in the morning. Its like clockwork. And i bake all my cake about 3-4 days before the event and freeze it, I do things in batches. I make all my frosting at once, usually while the kids are awake, during the day, then the night before the event i decorate. Its works great.

wow I am doing this all wrong...my son goes to bed at 9:30-10 at night because I like to sleep until 7 or so.....maybe I will have to start a bit earlier and see if it works for us...but that will be hard, he only gets to see Daddy from about 6 pm until bedtime, so I hate to rob him of too much of that time!

God love all the mothers out there both working and stay at home no matter how many children you have!!!

I have to say "ditto" on the getting them to bed early thing. Even though I work full time my girls go to bed around 7:30 - 8:00 and then it's "me" time which I ususally work out the day's stress. Then if I have a cake to do I start after that. The other thing is that this isn't my business so I limit any orders to one to two a week becuase I don't want to take any precious time away from the girls. Luckily my DH and I work at the same company so we all carpool and can have some quality time in the car since it's a 45 minute ride each way. When we get home we really try not to rush things but try to have a nice dinner, play for a while, baths, then bedtime. We're also lucky in that the girls are pretty much ready to go to bed since they have to get up around 6 AM!

I have a one year old and in about 8 months I'll have a newborn! YIKES!! I don't do cakes for money...just for fun. So, I don't take on more than I can handle....I work full time during the day and try to spend as much time with my son as possible...he usually doesn't mind if I am baking and making icing ....As long as I don't mind him in the kitchen at my ankles! I am lucky and have lots of family and my husband that will help.....decorating night either a teenage cousin or hubby occupies the little one....I have no idea how this "Hobby" will work when there are 2!!

My son will be 4 on Thursday. I have found that he loves to "help". I simply bake an extra small cake when I am baking, give him some frosting, a spreader, fill a couple of bags with colored BC and let him go to town. It usually takes him a long time and he is THRILLED to be making a creation for himself, his Daddy, or big sisters. That way he is out of my hair, but very close to me and he can stick his fingers in HIS cake all he wants! He leaves mine alone.

I have a 3 yr old and a 6 yr old. I too put them in bed by 8pm but my youngest (my button pusher) gets up at least three times by 11pm. Although it is agonizing, I try to work in between her being up. She is getting better. I shortened her nap during the day. If it comes to cruncn time and I have to work while they are awake, I give them a small cake or a piece of scrap or even cupcakes and let them play with some icing. They are usually pretty good about not making too much of a mess. Anyway, they will play for hours like this! I think it is something you will have to work at to find you solvent...every child is different. I used to go to grandma's house to decorate but that just got to be a pain after a while. So now I work around them. Granted, I don't have 4 kiddos either, just 2. I hope you find your niche! I will be praying for you!

~Aimee

I am also a SAHM with a 3 year old and a 10 month old. I try to get alot done while the 3 year old is in preschool 3 days a week but that is only 3 hours. Most of the time I either send her outside in the backyard to play or wait until she is in bed at 9. Soemtimes I will bake her a little cake and let her "decorate" hers with icing I put in a bag for her and sprinkles. She also "makes" her cakes with water, sugar and flour when I am baking. It ain't easy and alot of times means more clean up for me but I get tired of yelling at her so I let her have her fun too. She likes her cakes that she decorates too.

i have 3 little ones (6, 3 & 2) and i do a majority of my decorating after 9pm once they all are in bed.....or at nap time on the weekends (i have a full time job too).....sometimes i'll send DH to the park with them when i have to get an order out the door

just like with anything else as a mother.....it's a juggling act :0)

I also wait til at least the baby is at sleep. So i do it anytime after 9pm. I still have a hard time, cause i'm tired after work and the boys don't behave much when i need peace.
When the baby is up i do this.... (see pic)

rosita i know exactly how you feel. i'm a SAHM with a 6year old, 4year old, 2year old and 2month old who is nursing. So my time is limited. I also realy enjoy it and would not want to give it up (don't get out much either) My advice to you would be to do alot of things in advance like baking and freezing your cakes the first night. Make fondant or BC the next. It can be stored for a week in an air tight refridgerated container. Any gumpast can be done another night. If you give yourself a week (or so) to do a cake order and break up the steps to different nights(or AM whatever you can manage) and leave the last minute decorating to the day or night before it makes it alot less stressfull and more managable. You should tell people you need a week in advance to do orders. For orders that require less time bake a couple of cakes and batch of fondant to stash in the freezer for just in case. That way you dont have to worrie if you don't have time or if you dont manage to squeeze something in durring the run of a hetic week. Just some thoughts.

The bottom line is that we women are awesome! Working or stay at home--1 kid or 10. We work hard, wear many hats, raise the next generation and make beautiful cakes!!

Let's all give ourselves a pat on the back and a high 5!!

[quote=". I squeeze in decorating sometimes during the day but I find that anywhere from 10:00pm-3:00am to be the best working hours for me although I do pay for it the following day.[/quote]

pattycakescookies, Same here, that's like our 'daytime' if you will. DH helps, but can only force himself to stat awake and still function until right about 10 or 10:30. I'm with ya on the shower thing and all of them going off to out of state colleges too. That and all the b'day, anniversary gifts and what not that we'll get down the road can't hurt either

I'm with you vww! We moms do it all. My cakes used to be decorated after the kids (all 7) and hubby went to bed. Even though I was exhausted, this was finally "my" time and it felt great! I could dance around the kitchen while decorating and no one would care, except for my nosey neighbor that loved watching our house! Even though my youngest is now 11, I'm still a night owl but also am up VERY early to pack all those lunches. But once I'm done with all that, "my" time happens again and I'm on CC!!!