Is there anyone out there?
Not posted on here in ages... I have been reading. But writing requires inspiration. And having more than 30 seconds at a time to sit down and think of stuff. Facebook lends itself to short, superficial "yay, I have cider/managed to put Izzy's hair in a french plait like a proper mummy/boo, it is raining" type posts that take no time. For LJ I feel like I have to actually have something to say. And this doesn't happen often.
So where are we now?
Izzy has strted school - had her first full time day (wasn't meant to be till next week but she was enjoying it so much she wanted to stay all day!) today and didn't come home an exhausted wreck. She seems to be having lots of fun, but is a bit vague on the details. There was definitely painting yesterday. And she keeps getting stickers for tidying up and listening, so I'm clearly doing something wrong at home ;)
The lay of the land has changed somewhat here... the world has conspired against us and the plan is different for now. The day i asked to go part time (a little while before I went back to work from maternity leave) Richard got told he was being made redundant. So swift change of plan.... Instead I went back to work full time, but with strategic use of my holiday (you accrue bank holidays while on mat leave, so on top of my contractual holiday for the year I had some extra) I could take every thursday and friday off until I ran out of holiday. Plus 2 weeks to settle Izzy into school would have taken me a week into October with 2 days left over for emergencies.
He was getting big redundancy pay out so we can live off that for a while. (a years net pay basically... so we can make that last for longer if I'm working full time...) and he will be doing a bit of bar work etc to keep himself busy while he looks for sonething else. Then when he finds something else I will ask to go part time again. But working on the assumption that that could take a good few months so I may as well work full time so we can survive longer if we need to. (much as it breaks my heart to do so).
But may as well look out for work closer to home on the offchance something comes up that is more convenient. (plus returning to work I discovered an even more toxic environment than the one I left.... so leaving was extra apealing). Got as far as updating my cv and bunging it on a few websites when an agency called me with a payroll implementation job in Salisbury - no closer to home but lots more money, and a big step up for me. I had an interview there a while back and was unsuccessful but why not? May as well give it a try. In true "it will happen when the time is right" I had my interview at 4:30pm on the Friday afternoon and had a call from the agency by 10am on Monday morning offering me the job. So there we go. Off to a new job on the 30th September.
I'm looking forward to starting, but also feeling :( about working full time and not being here for the kids. It is much easier knowing Richard will be here to look after them (with a bit of help from MIL/my mum!) so long as I put aside my control-freak worries that he won't "do it right". Keep reminding myself that providing a roof and food is an important part of being a parent. I'm trying to tackle sleep while I'm off - we were still getting 4-5 wake ups each night from Stuart, with him needing feeding back to sleep each time. Really need to knock that on the head if I'm not going to get any naps.
But it will be fine when I get there. Have been feeling in limbo for the past few weeks... knowing change is coming, both with Izzy's new school, and my new job, and Richard's lack thereof - lots of change at once and new routines all round. Another month and we will be settled down and know what we are doing. There are plans afoot involving having tea on the table ready when I get home. Watch this space ;0)
So where are we now?
Izzy has strted school - had her first full time day (wasn't meant to be till next week but she was enjoying it so much she wanted to stay all day!) today and didn't come home an exhausted wreck. She seems to be having lots of fun, but is a bit vague on the details. There was definitely painting yesterday. And she keeps getting stickers for tidying up and listening, so I'm clearly doing something wrong at home ;)
The lay of the land has changed somewhat here... the world has conspired against us and the plan is different for now. The day i asked to go part time (a little while before I went back to work from maternity leave) Richard got told he was being made redundant. So swift change of plan.... Instead I went back to work full time, but with strategic use of my holiday (you accrue bank holidays while on mat leave, so on top of my contractual holiday for the year I had some extra) I could take every thursday and friday off until I ran out of holiday. Plus 2 weeks to settle Izzy into school would have taken me a week into October with 2 days left over for emergencies.
He was getting big redundancy pay out so we can live off that for a while. (a years net pay basically... so we can make that last for longer if I'm working full time...) and he will be doing a bit of bar work etc to keep himself busy while he looks for sonething else. Then when he finds something else I will ask to go part time again. But working on the assumption that that could take a good few months so I may as well work full time so we can survive longer if we need to. (much as it breaks my heart to do so).
But may as well look out for work closer to home on the offchance something comes up that is more convenient. (plus returning to work I discovered an even more toxic environment than the one I left.... so leaving was extra apealing). Got as far as updating my cv and bunging it on a few websites when an agency called me with a payroll implementation job in Salisbury - no closer to home but lots more money, and a big step up for me. I had an interview there a while back and was unsuccessful but why not? May as well give it a try. In true "it will happen when the time is right" I had my interview at 4:30pm on the Friday afternoon and had a call from the agency by 10am on Monday morning offering me the job. So there we go. Off to a new job on the 30th September.
I'm looking forward to starting, but also feeling :( about working full time and not being here for the kids. It is much easier knowing Richard will be here to look after them (with a bit of help from MIL/my mum!) so long as I put aside my control-freak worries that he won't "do it right". Keep reminding myself that providing a roof and food is an important part of being a parent. I'm trying to tackle sleep while I'm off - we were still getting 4-5 wake ups each night from Stuart, with him needing feeding back to sleep each time. Really need to knock that on the head if I'm not going to get any naps.
But it will be fine when I get there. Have been feeling in limbo for the past few weeks... knowing change is coming, both with Izzy's new school, and my new job, and Richard's lack thereof - lots of change at once and new routines all round. Another month and we will be settled down and know what we are doing. There are plans afoot involving having tea on the table ready when I get home. Watch this space ;0)