Friday 31 July 2009

Friday's Split Personality Post

The fun bit...
I have some very enjoyable things to do today. I'm going to start with 'morning cuppa' with some school friends. Other mum's who love this little piece of sanity as much as I do. We laugh (and sometimes cry!) together each week and solve the world's problems together. Well, our own little households, anyway.

After lunch, I'm toddling over to a nearby town to visit a church for whom I am facilitating a parenting course, beginning next week. I've not been to their offices, or the church actually, so I need to orient myself to the facilities they have. I'll have to take the laptop and DVD with me too, to make sure the computer things all talk to each other.

Tonight, the rest of the family will be feasting on the leftovers from Tuesday's night's dinner while I go to a 'Quilt til you Wilt' evening at the local quilt shop. I'm really looking forward to that. My sewing morning is the one thing I miss quite a bit at times. Sometime today I'll pick up the new Tail Feather's pattern and have all the pieces prepared to start stitching. I can't wait to get it!


The work bit...



I want to thank each of you who have posted with your encouraging words over the last couple of days. You're all beautiful friends.

There were quite a few comments wondering how I manage to work as well as keep up with home and family. For me, it has been made much easier than most Mum's would have the opportunity to experience and I wanted to share with you the things that make that true for me.
  • I work within a Christian community that our entire family has a vested interest in. It is a place that feels a lot like family to us in many ways and the community is filled with people who love the school as much as we do and work to keep it the beautiful community that it is.
  • My children and I spend our entire day in the same place. Indeed, I am paid to spend 5 lessons a week in the classroom my son is also in. If my kids really need me in the middle of the day, even if just for a hug, I'm right there. Not too many Mum's can claim that privilege in their work lives.
  • Our school has a very family friendly work policy. Over the holidays, when I need to work during Work Break, the kids are welcome to be in the school. One third of our staff are current parents, and there are a number who have had their children there in the past so it is beneficial to a lot of us for this to be the case. Even our Principal would be challenged with this if he was not willing for 'staff kids' to be around! Finding child care is not something I need to worry about.
  • We are usually home by 4pm. We're able to keep our regular after-school routine with some down time, homework time and time to cook dinner etc as normal.
I know I'm very fortunate and I think under 'regular' circumstances I'd probably fall apart in trying to manage the balance between work and home. In fact, I probably wouldn't attempt to work if things were not as they are now. God has been very gracious to me.

3 comments:

Tracy Bentley said...

You stay so busy. But I too, work full time in the education system here in Alabama. I am in charge of our systems inventory. We have 40 schools and 26,000 students. I only have one child, but keeping your home going and then dealing with pressures at work can get the best of you. I have so been wanting to learn to quilt and just get involved in something for myself. I enjoy cooking and planning meals and coupons and collecting cookbooks. Sometimes may be can swap cookbooks. I would love to have one from Austrailia and would love to share a good southern cookbook with you.
take care and have a great weekend.

Tracy said...

Tracy, one of the best things I ever did was do a class or two at my local quilt shop. If you have somewhere near you that has something going that isn't a huge time commitment I would highly recommend that as a place to start. Or find someone you know. Quilters are a generous bunch who love to share their tips and tricks.

The biggest thing I learned from a class was that you need a 1/4 inch foot for the sewing machine. I didn't know they existed!

Ooooooo a cookbook swap sounds like a great idea. I'd love to do that with you. My mind is racing with all the Australian Women's Weekly books you would love!

Tracy Bentley said...

sounds great. let me know when and we will exchange address.

my email address is tbentley@shelbyed.k12.al.us