We made it through the summer.
We all survived relatively un-scathed and we live to fight another day; or in my case, flap it away pathetically with both my hands as I tend to fight a bit like a girl.. *horrendous stereotype alert*
We can’t pretend it was easy, but I loved having my offspring here over the summer. Its been a lot of fun, if slightly manic.
It would be remise of me not to touch on the summer in this round up, so to start with here is the ABCs of the summer holidays linky over on my KiddyCharts blog which I hope you can all join in with; 26 words using those lovely letters to tell us all how your summer went. Its a bit of a laugh, so come join the party. Cheshire Mum grabbed my attention with her lovely photo collage of the fun she has had over the summer with her family; so please check it out for inspiration if you need to.
Despite the joy of the summer, there was an audible sigh of relief to be heard at the school gate the day that my kids went back. And I assure you, it wasn’t just from me. Did I feel happy they were back, did some of the other parents? If we did, that’s probably another reason for the terrible working parent guilt to kick in…
It simply doesn’t go away. Chez Mummy talks very eloquently about it; sometimes its the innocent questions from our kids that tug on those heart-strings the most, taking you to a place you really didn’t want to go. Working for many is a necessity even if it wasn’t part of the original plan; Writings, Ramblings and Reviews sums this up beautifully in her post about her journey as a working parent. She is now working full-time with her husband at home with the kids. Not something she had ever imagined in her younger days.
Jen over at Love Chic Living has written a wonderful post about how we should be proud of ourselves for having the strength to say “no.” Being a working parent is a delicate balancing act which we need to have strength to maintain.
Mischief, Mayhem and Motherhood seem to be striving to get it right with a letter to her little one after their first day at the childminders while she went to work. I think she would rather her son missed her more next time around. As a working parent, there are sometimes tears when you least expect, and smiles when you don’t. Twopointfourchildren touches on this lack of tears in one of her posts too. Its not easy when they don’t ball their eyes out; but then as I experienced this week, its even harder when they actually do… Thanks must go to twopointfourchildren for making sure that I also had Dolly Parton going round and around in my head for the last few hours *bangs head on desk*
Its been a back to school-y kind of month for everyone, which is why we had blubbing from my little man. However, for some of us, its a very different feeling, as we are going back as a teacher. Emma and three gives us an insight into how going into school after time away feels. Here’e hoping Emma got a gold star on her first day back 
. Just in case there are people out there whose kids are starting school for the first time, Elinor Wilde has some lovely tips on what to avoid so you can help your child start on the right path. That path should probably include finding all the right bags fast; which is not something we managed to achieve as my new personal blog, Stickers, Stars and Smiles clearly shows you.
For those of you already thinking about how to entertain the little ones into the autumn now they have started school; Littlesheep Learning has some fabulous ideas for autumn sensory play on her blog. We will definitely be trying some of these out in the coming weeks.
Finally, another school year inevitably means another year where I fail to complete my “to do” list. Top of my list is, as always, getting fit. I am rubbish at exercising; using the excuse that I am working far too often. So the idea that there were 5 ways for burning more calories a day at Birds on a Blog was a big bonus. Not sure I understood ALL the abbreviations, but it certainly sounds worth trying out just to reduce the spread from the derrière. So wish me luck. *shifts bottom in chair self-consciously*
If you have any posts that you would like us to consider for next month, drop them into the Linky below. I loved reading them all last month, so look forward to another wonderful batch this month.
About Helen Neale
Helen is the editor of the working parents round up, a freelance writer and owner of personalised children's chart business, KiddyCharts. She was a business analyst, and then a tweed-skirted school librarian as she tried to find work that fitted in with the demands of motherhood. Mummy's Little Stars is where you will find her sometimes funny musings about life as a working parent, and mum to some over exuberant small people. She has only been blogging since January 2012, so go gentle with her; she might break. You can find Helen on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; where she probably hangs out a bit too much.
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Great roundup, it’s reassuring to read what goes on in the heads of other working mums. I know I don’t go out to an office, but the guilt is still there everytime I try and squeeze in ‘just one more thing’ on my getting my business up and running to do list!
Guilt is the bane for our lives isn’t it? As are to do lists!
Ooh the first round up I have made! Thank you! xx
Pleasure
Thanks so much for including me! Grabbing a cuppa now so I can relax and read some of the other wonderful posts.
Hope u enjoyed them all. Next one due soon as well
Great job Helen. Thanks so much for putting in such a lot of work to pull this together and for including me too gorgeous! Reading all these is another great excuse to delay the housework;)
You need an excuse
. It’s a gr8 excuse for me to read some great blogs. Keep at it!
Thanks for including my post. It’s comforting to know I’m not the only one finding the whole work-life balance thing exhausting. And, as promised, I’ve linked up my new blog post about the exciting new adventure I’ve started
Cheers, Laura. It’s so tough balancing these things. Helps to know we are not alone.
Thanks for including my post
Pleasure everyone. Now parking on next months. Sorry I didn’t reply to you all sooner. For some reason I didnt get the alerts