Coming home

We interrupt your regular schedule of, well, not very much, to say…

As of 5 October this blog’s name will mean what it was set up to mean. In other words, after a six-month foray into the world of offices and bus commutes, I shall be returning to freelance life and working from home again.

It was both a hard and an easy decision make. I have enjoyed my six months back in-house a lot. I loved having a defined role and having people listen to me and feel I had something to important to contribute. I loved that my 13 years of running a business was accepted and embraced as a benefit and not seen as wasted time. I loved going to meetings and making phone calls (two things I used to shy away from and avoid as much as possible). I loved the conversations, whether about work, last night’s TV, someone’s holiday disaster or the hairdresser from hell. I loved the cakes – though my waistline may not agree with that. I loved the lattes from the machine, but not the tea. I loved problem solving, fire fighting, quality assurance, briefing, supporting and pretty much all aspects of the job. I was looking forward to the potential of moving forward and upward in the next few years and maybe managing teams or commissioning projects. I loved that the commute gave me time to read and be a me away from everything and everyone else. I loved lunchtimes in the beautiful park. I loved the early morning walk to the bus (though not the evening walk from the bus) and the 10 minutes of drawing time while waiting for the bus to leave. I loved having paid holidays and a payslip.

But… the air conditioning and open plan office, with the added commute, did not sit well with my body. I was ill more in the last six months than I have been in six years. I didn’t have the time or the energy to exercise and so the walks to and from the bus at both ends were all I was getting. Amazingly, I haven’t put on any actual weight (quite probably thanks to Thinking Slimmer, months after I’ve listened to a slimpod, even), but I feel (and definitely am) a lot less fit and and my (aforementioned) waistline is definitely feeling wobblier.

But probably the biggest factor of all is the lack of flexibility in being in an office, especially in relation to being a parent. I missed Sports Day. I missed almost the whole of the summer holidays. I have done a total of two school pickups/drop-offs in the last six months (yes, 6 weeks of that was the summer holidays, but still). I feel a lot less engaged with their schooling and pre-schooling. As a parent governor, I need to visit the school a number of a times a year, and would need to book a day off to do that (aside from the fact that I also want to do so as a parent!) Christmas is coming up, with its sleighful of parties and carols and plays and fayres, all of which I would need to book time off to see. We looked into the possibility of changing my hours so I could do a pick-up or drop-off each week, but I would have had to either leave early or stay late three days a week which would mean not seeing the girls in the morning or missing dinner with them, neither of which would really work for me.

It probably would have been possible to make it work and I’m not going to completely rule it out for the future. Frankly, if I didn’t have the years of working for myself behind me, I probably would be looking out how to make it work. But the extra effort when I knew I had a way of working already that could allow me to do all of those things, meant it was fairly obvious what needed to happen. A lot of the aspects of the job I really enjoyed I can continue to do externally and I’ll be able to add a bit of a variety back in, which I have missed a little.

Most importantly, though, I’ll be able to walk the girls up the hill to school in the morning (some mornings – as before, we will share the school runs and other bits and pieces equally). I’ll be able to go to middle-of-the-day meetings or performances at school. I’ll be able to see my friends at school more. I’ll be able to pop into town for a coffee or to pick up some shopping. I’ll be able to do a couple of hours’ work in the morning and then spend a couple of hours in the day sitting in the park drawing. I’ll be able to take the dog for more walks. I’ll be able to find the time and energy to do my Zumba, or some other exercise. I’ll be able to cook regularly again. I’ll be able to keep on top of the washing pile (OK, that might be pushing it a bit).

Oh, yes, and I’ll be able to spend the day with my best friend. It’s pretty perfect, really, isn’t it?

I can put aside the meetings and the career progression possibilities for all of that (if indeed it counts as putting them aside). Because my priorities are at home, tucked up in bed, and thankfully I can still make a good living and get a lot of job satisfaction, while sticking close by them. I’m very lucky to have this option as I know many many parents would like something like this and can’t make it work. And, of course, there are plenty of parents out there who have found a balance they are happy with and that is wonderful. I think it has to be about what works for you and your family, whether or not it necessarily fits others’ views.

A little part of me hopes that I might also find the time, motivation and inclination to look after this blog a bit more. I’ve had some urges to get my political ranting boots out again and I’d also really like to get more recipes up. And books. So many lovely books to review – and maybe the time to get the girls to do some of their fabulous book videos. No promises, though. There’s also a chance I might just disappear into thin air and re-appear somewhere else on the internet. You never know.