I have always sat happily on the fence of the working Mum debate. As a part-time working Mum with a lot of good friends in both camps, I've felt that I can absolutely agree with all sides. I'm always amazed at what a passionate issue this is. I am carefully not naming names as I badly mis-quote all my nearest and dearest in the following few sentences. Working Mums can be militant about needing to do it for financial reasons. Nobody in the world can argue with that. For the non-financially stretched though it seems as if it is a right that should not be taken away. If a man can work with a family, why can't a woman? The Stay-at-Home Mums are equally as fervent with the knowledge that they are giving up the freedom of life at work that they could have, all for the sake of the welfare of their children. Both valid arguments, I think.
Normally, I work two days a week. It's creeping up however now that my kids are both in school. I've recently been promoted up the examining ladder and my masters degree is starting in ten days time. Someone has decided to pay me £100 an hour; NO, not for that, you dirty Mo-Fos, but for some professional training and I would be lying if it said it hadn't gone to my head somewhat. Let's hope the powers that be never read this blog; my invitation would be removed before you could say "Who on earth would waste a ton on this Fuckwit?"
This week is Harvest Festival at school and I am in work every day. To the Working Mums there is no need to even make a big deal of this "Why would you not be?" and I can feel the Stay-at-Home Mums rightly worrying about the state of my house and the state of my children. My family runs beautifully like a military operation and we are at the point now where I can be absent in the mornings or after school and the kids still eat and are bathed/teeth are still cleaned and spellings are still learnt. It is easy to get sucked into the idea that your domestic life can function perfectly well without you in it. Not so much. I've said before that it is impossible to be simultaneously a good Mother/Wife/Employee and Daughter and I stand by that. My Dad was telling me the same thing, that I needed to put my kids first at all times; as we stood in the pub together this evening. This was after I had picked the kids from after-school club, bollocked Seb for losing his fleece, chucked the boys at Stu and legged it back out the door to go to the boozer. Something wrong there.
I spent a few minutes encouraging a lovely Year 2 boy at work today who was worried about his performance tomorrow and we had a bit of a moment as I realised I had made his day better and he was feeling good about the play now. I thought on my way back from the pub this evening that I hadn't spent that much time talking one-on-one to either of my own children today. Luckily, I was in time to remedy this and found out stuff about Zak and Sebi's day that would have been lost forever if I hadn't had that revelation. There were things that happened to them yesterday that I will never know about now.
Forgive the twee-ness. Unusual I know. I'm a nasty creature when I'm bored but maybe I need to learn to constantly re-evaluate my work-life balance. My babies aren't my babies any more but they need me as much today, in different ways, as they did when they were tiny. Poor old Stuart has accepted that he is nearly at the bottom of the pile and pretty much fends for himself. At least as long as the cat is alive he has a slightly more elevated status in the household...
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