Rebecca Mugridge is an author, horticulturalist and presenter. She is a single mum and lives in Mapleton in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland of Queensland with her two girls, Lily and Violet.

C4K: Describe your general day-to-day life and schedule.

RM: Mornings are all about routine. I have to be organised as a single mum. It's all about breakfast and then getting ready for school and then going to school. Then my morning involves about an hour of work emails, writing, photography shoots, promotional work, networking or follow-ups. Followed by housework, watering gardens if needed and play time with my 2 yr old. Some days we will go shopping after this, to the library, to her swimming lessons or I will go to the gym.

During her nap time I work for 1-2 hours, this could be working on new recipes, writing etc.

In the afternoon we spend time together, collect my oldest from school and then go for a big family walk or pram jog together on the afternoons my oldest doesn't have an activity on and we usually spend a little bit of time in the garden. Some days I do another hour of work from about 4-5pm if the kids are playing well together and then it is dinner which we have early at about 5.30/6pm. Then bath, wind down, story time and bed. For me, this is usually followed by housework and probably more work.

C4K: What led you to you current career as a horticulturalist and author?

RM: There are a few elements to what I do: I am a published author with a book published by Random House and am working on two more at the moment. I am also a professional recipe creator for a supermarket and I am a passionate Horticulturalist, so my business is really a combination of all these elements and myself as a presenter, writer and blogger.

They are all passions of mine, so they have come from inspiration and following what I am not only good at, but enjoy doing too.

C4K: Did you take time off with your children?

RM: I was a stay at home mum with my first until she started kindy, when I went back to work 4 days a week. I also became a published author when she was 2 and spent the year before that writing my book, so I guess I started back at work when she was about 1, working from home as well.

I was so torn with my first, my choosing to stay at home came because I could not leave her and looking at childcare anyway we would have not been much better off financially, so I decided to avoid the heartache and stress and stay home.

I did however feel at times very undervalued being at home and had gone from a really interesting and involved career to just being at home and I did start to feel like people didn't value my opinions anymore and things I did weren't important. I did developed postnatal depression (PND).

I think it is such a unique thing for every parent. Working from home works very well for me, even though I do have to be super organised, and I work very hard and don't have as much down time as I should, but I make sure my kids get plenty of attention and we get out of the house (also my office) as much as possible.

With working out of home along with my presentation work on the outside world I guess, in some ways, I have the best of both worlds. Though it would also be nice to have a non play doughed office!

C4K: What were your main motivations to return to work and what was the hardest thing about it?

RM: Mother guilt is HUGE, but different for everybody. I actually had this so much that it was a big decider in why I started working from home. For me the biggest challenge is getting that balance and knowing when to switch off the electronics and not being available at all times for emails and phone calls.

C4K: Who looks after the children when you're working?

RM: My mum is a fantastic on hand help to me, so much of what I do I couldn't do without her.

C4K: How has your mum helped you in your work and personal circumstances?

RM: As a presenter I have to be really flexible, so I am very lucky I have my mother, as traditional day care I found hard when you just need say 4 hours and sometimes on short notice. Also becoming a single parent family is a huge thing to go through for everybody. Last year was a real challenge for us, but I believe it brought my girls and me even closer together. It has meant I needed to step up my game and be more organised and serious about bringing any additional income or resources in or saving money wherever I can.

C4K: What are the main benefits of your particular arrangement?

RM: Financially it doesn't cost me anything; instead I do favours for her in return, like drive her to work etc.

C4K: What three things could you simply not do without as a working mum?

RM: My laptop. My mother. My wall planner/calendar!

Find out more about Rebecca at www.authorrebeccamugridge.com