Working parents round up: Wee, winters and work flexibility

 

Well, thank goodness that’s over.

Back to writing in coffee shops with a quiet cuppa, not writing while trying to keep an eye on the children as they disappear into an enormous soft play, which is lit only by one bulb covering a building the size of Australia…..

I hope all you people had manageable half-terms and you weren’t too overcome by managing the childcare, kids and work. We all survived it, of which I am mightily proud. Small victories and all that. We don’t shout about those enough as parents, so we are going to try and change that with a monthly linky over on the KiddyCharts Blog. Link up your posts if you are proud about something. You could be proud of yourself or your kids. Anything counts. We even have a gold star for you to take back to your blog! I have joined in myself, and linked up a post on Stickers, Stars and Smiles that I am pleased I wrote. It wasn’t an easy one as it is rather personal, but I am glad I wrote nonetheless.

This post over at About the Two Sisters kind of summed my struggles at half-term up for me. No matter how hard I tried over the holidays; there was always a point where it was impossible to hold onto that sanity any longer. And I was sorry for that; honest. As was pointed our very succinctly by The Life and Times of the Working Mum the extra hour at the beginning of the week that we were all “meant” to get, often doesn’t actually materialise as there are kids involved.

Nobody sends them that memo. They just get up at the same time, so instead of waking at 6am, they wake at 5am….

That’s not gonna make the half-term an easy time now is it?!

It started with a squish reminds us what parenting is like rather spectacularly, when she talks about her first nappy change at home with her new bundle of joy – nobody warns you when you have a boy that a certain part of their anatomy needs to be kept under control during nappy changes…or disasters can occur…

Once you have got them under control (ish) and you are looking after them at home, the MOST annoying thing is then to be disturbed by the phone. I work from home, and cold calls annoy the hell out of me. So this post from My Mummy’s Pennies sums up how I feel exactly. She has a great strategy for cold callers; and one I might start using when I can.

Talking of the cold, Cass over at The Frugal Family, is reminding us why winter is actually rather scrummy. I know we didn’t have much of a summer, but let’s not get too down on our winters. I rather love them. And as for the kids, mine are sooooo excited about Christmas they have already written their letters to Santa…..

My letter to Santa is going to be very short; it’ll just be asking for a bit more time. We don’t have enough we working parents. In fact, does any parent? Mums Moments has summed it up brilliantly on her blog this month, with a great post about the problems that we all face. I am pretty sure all of your will empathise with her. Sometimes we have to be bold and take a chance; asking our employers to be flexible can make a big difference to our quality of life, and our kids. Chez Mummy has taken the plunge this month doing just that, and I wish her luck.

In my quest for flexibility, I started my own business. But I still struggle with work and kids, despite having an extra pair of hands to help some days. Anya over at Older Single Mum has started a wonderful new series on her blog telling real life tales of single mums; trying to:

“Debunk the media myth that single mums are teenagers on council estates.”

The wonderful WitWitWoo is the latest lady to be featured; and talks eloquently about her life as a single mother. Pop on over and see her thoughts, and the other featured bloggers if you can.

So that’s me for another month, we covered wee, flexibility and single mums – I wonder what next month will bring? Link up your posts below, and let me know at info@kiddycharts.com if you are a working parent with a blog. We are always on the lookout for some good new reads. Adios!