Happy Fuck It Fri-ayyy

'Mummmmy .... Daddddy!'
'Commme On....'
'It's Fri - ayyy'
'Commme On....'
'Commme On Now!'
'Fri - ayyy  Fri - ayyy'

This is what we woke up to at 5.30am last Friday morning. If it had not been "Fri-ayyy", I would have said a completely different F word under my breath. I would have rolled over and told my husband to 'ignore him' and prayed to every God I'd ever heard of, "please just this once make him go back to sleep".

But because it was Friday, I laughed.
I laughed and my husband laughed and got up and bought him in for a cuddle. Because who can resist an enthusiastic, life affirming toddler on a Friday morning? Not us that's for sure. The cuddle didn't really work out (does it ever?), the constant wriggling and sticky feet jabs to the ribs soon put pay to that idea and by 6am we we were all watching Peter Rabbit and sipping warmed milk and tea.

'Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit...! Something something... Run for your life!' As he bounces up and down at the foot of the bed.

Grandparent Guilt

Three days a week Finley spends his day with his two sets of Grandparents. We drop him off in the morning and pick him after tea but he spends his whole day with them, all day long for about ten hours. This is because we both have to work full time and we are seriously lucky to have two sets of parents who can step in and help us in this way. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't have the help that we do and we are aware of how fortunate we are in this regard. 

However, I do think that society wants me to feel bad about this set up. In that I should feel guilty for abandoning my child, burdening our parents and skipping off to work without a care in the world. I get this vibe from the media, from other parents and from people who comment about how much time my son spends at my Mum and Dads house. The implication of course, is that our parents shouldn't have to raise their children's children. 

Well no, they shouldn't.

Relocating My Balls After Maternity Leave

Before my current job, it was my experience that being a Mother was viewed as a negative by an employer.
In fact when I was interviewing for a new position I would mentally list the reasons why I should get the job (experience, skill, enthusiasm) and why I might not get the job. On this list would be the fact that I am Mum.
Yes I had allowed myself to believe that being a Mother made me less capable, less skilled and therefore less employable.