The Parent Project: Month 2

Eight weeks in, The Parent Project has sparked much discussion in our home. We appreciate your kind words and emails about Jack. Thank you also for your suggestions on how to use my parenting project management skills.
Here are some other things that I learned this month.
It’s harder than you think!
How many times have you said yes to a project only to realize how difficult it would be? Once you sign up, it is difficult to grasp the nuances of the work. It is only when you are in panic mode that you can see how difficult it is. It’s almost like parenting.
You will need a lot of resources
We are using a lot of resources including nappies and kitchen rolls. This was exactly what I expected. Sometimes, you don’t realize how much resources you’ll need until you are right in the middle. It’s water for me at The Parent Project. I didn’t realize how many I would need. It can be used to wash clothes, wash the baby, sterilize stuff, and make endless cups of tea.
It is impossible to determine our environmental impact over the past eight weeks.
You must manage your stakeholders
You have to balance the needs of all stakeholders and keep your primary stakeholder (your Sponsor), happy.
Parenting is different. All family members, friends, colleagues, and coworkers want to be informed. Even though we don’t have any communications strategy, it would be difficult for us to implement. It is difficult to find the time to send texts, organize coherent emails and attach photos. Jack seems to be the only one who seems to be getting a rough deal.
Since I have been involved in several projects over the last year, my priority has been to keep project managers happy. A friend of mine suggested to me that I should focus on taking care of myself first. It’s similar to when you fly in an aircraft and must put on your oxygen mask before helping others. You can’t help anyone if you aren’t capable of functioning properly.
So, I’m going now to bed.