ch 5--Justin Barillas

Justin (27) his wife Linda (36)
Children: Cameron and Candice (Newborn)

Linda and I are so happy to be parents. She has a great job as a university Lecturer and I have a pretty good home business. I sell decorative items and I do admit that Linda is a big help to my business. Now that we have the twins it seems that I am being pulled in two directions

I stay up late night to try and finish some projects that are the big money makers at my store. FOr example the blanket on the wall beside me? I made that and it brings in about 3000 simoleans. I need that to break even. I want to take my business to the next level. When I start working I tend not to look up until I am basically asleep on the sewing machine.

I come inside and help feed Cameron. I usually try to feed Canice as well but she ends up asleep in bed with Linda. Now that the twins are one its pretty hard to keep up with their feeding schedule.

Linda continues to help out the best she can but still it still is not enough. My one employee is noticing the drop in both merchandise and in our sales. I know that if I dont dedicate enough time then it simply wont succeed.

The dreaded talk that I was fearing actually occurred. Linda told me that the latest numbers for my shop are way below the average that I have been maintaining. She says that I have to consider hiring someone else to manage the place. I dont have the money to do that. Right now Linda needs to get back to work and that means hiring a nanny that we can not afford. I told her that I will think about what is our next step.


Sometimes its hard to think and that when I love that our place has its own small lake. I come out here and fish whenever I need to think. I want my business to succeed but at the same time I think Linda is older and she sometimes feels she can tell me what to do. She's 36 and im 27. She has a successful career and I am a struggling shop owner. In the end I know that she is right. I need to make a choice.

I came up to look at our children and the choice was simple. I laid of my employee and gave him a great recommendation. I put a closed until further notice on the door. I am going to keep the shop closed until the kids are a little older and we can afford to have a nanny.