Phoebe Burgess is no stranger to multi-tasking: she's been juggling her career and being a mum to two beautiful kids, seven-year-old Poppy and five-year-old Billy, since 2017. And yes, her days are just about as frantic as you’d imagine.
There's so much going on that Phoebe tells Mamamia there’s really no such thing as an ordinary day in her house. "I guarantee you there will be no two mornings the same," she promises.
It's family tradition in Phoebe's house for the person who wakes up first to wake up the rest of the family. The only rule is to wait until it's light outside, but otherwise there are no rules: from loud music to a wet washer on the face, anything goes.
"Once we’ve woken up, I get up, I cuddle and kiss the kids, and we do brekky." Phoebe said. "Then it’s pure chaos — socks, pants, homework, books and violins." She’s often in such a rush she does her skincare in the car, but said that if she gets the kids to school by 8.30, "that’s a win".
Hilariously, the biggest culprit for morning delays is little Billy. "Billy is going through a personal style journey at the moment, so he spends a good 10 to 15 minutes putting gel in his hair," she laughed. "He’s a surprisingly conscientious little boy, always playing with something, working on some kind of skill or practising four-point turns on his John Deere tractor."
Poppy, on the other hand, is always in a hurry. "She’s creative, gentle, a soft soul but also wild and fearless — she’s currently got a broken arm," Phoebe reported.
Once the kids have been dropped at school, Phoebe has a list of things to get through. "I try to tick things off," she said. "I always try to do Pilates — I have a reformer at home — I find that moving my body really gets the creative juices flowing. Then I’m trying to meet deadlines, catch up on anything I’ve missed, as well as cleaning up the chaos of the morning and figuring out what I’ve got going on for the next few days."
Since the kids have started school, it’s surprised her how quickly the days fly by. "When kids are babies you have an idea of the school day in your head that you’ll have seven or eight hours free and be able to do so much, but it's insane how quickly it goes. I always overestimate how much I can get done."
Phoebe certainly gets a lot done in her professional life — including a recent collaboration with allergy brand Zyrtec, writing a story book called Zach and Zoe’s Hide and Sneeze. The collaboration with Zyrtec came about organically, she said, because her kids have been lifelong sufferers of allergic rhinitis. "The process was great," she said of writing the book. "The best kind of work is the work you believe in and that you’ve lived yourself."
"Zyrtec told me they would love to write a book to help other parents identify symptoms and triggers of allergic rhinitis, because not nearly enough parents know about it. There's a lot of misdiagnoses — many parents think their kids have a cold or the flu because of the similarities in symptoms, but in fact can be allergic rhinitis."
Phoebe immediately jumped on the idea of collaborating on the book, telling Mamamia: "It’s such a brilliant idea to use that sacred story time that families share to spark a conversation."
Phoebe picked up on her own kids' allergies early on, because they spend so much time outside. "When Billy had just started walking, he would be out playing in the grass on our property and came up in irritated red itchy skin. Poppy would always have red watery eyes too which was quite distressing for her. For me, it was just heartbreaking."
And it wasn’t just playing outdoors that sparked Poppy and Billy's allergies. During a wet winter, Phoebe and the kids were playing "ultimate hide and seek" when she noticed the same red, itchy eyes and irritation. "I was finding these children in cupboards and under beds experiencing the same symptoms they were having outside. And the symptoms just wouldn’t ease."
That's what inspired Phoebe to get out of her comfort zone and work on Zach and Zoe’s Hide and Sneeze: to help parents who might not know about allergic rhinitis to recognise the symptoms and triggers in their kids, understand how to manage allergies, and help find some relief so their kids can get back to themselves.
"The creativity I got to use in the process was amazing, because it’s totally different from what I usually do," she said.
All too quickly, after a day of squeezing in as much work as she can, it’s time for Phoebe to pick the kids up from school. There’s often sport or music in the afternoon, then they all get home just before 5. "Poppy does her homework, and Billy does his homework twice," Phoebe laughed.
Then it’s bathtime, time to get warm and cosy and do story time in their fresh jammies. Story time has been, of course, a fantastic time to test out Zach and Zoe’s Hide and Sneeze with her own kids. "They absolutely loved it," Phoebe said.
No matter how busy the days feel, Phoebe said spending time with her kids is her greatest joy. "I get to see the world through their eyes which is also what I got to do with the book. They are constantly learning and evolving. I sometimes get it wrong, but it’s very humbling."
"Nothing that has compared to being a parent to these two kids, they look after me and give me strength and purpose. I get up every morning for them and go to bed for them."
Get your free Zach and Zoe’s Hide and Sneeze book with any Zyrtec purchase in-store from your local pharmacy until November 30, or until stocks last.
Always read the label and follow the directions for use.
Feature Image: Instagram/@mrsphoebeburgess.