As you know, I went back to work last week but little Magdalene hasn’t taken the change of routine too well.
She must have sensed I was going to work today, because last night she woke up more than usual through the night which meant both she and myself got little sleep!
I knew today was going to be a fairly full day at work disconnecting and installing toilet suites at two different homes.
The plan was for my mum to look after Esther and Magdalene for the day. Dad and I would go do the first job, come back to the home office so I could feed Magdalene and then come out again to do the second job.
Magdalene didn’t like this plan so when I left at 8.45am, she screamed for over two hours in my mum’s arms and wouldn’t take a bottle or any comfort from the toys I left for her. 🙁
So I had to be flexible and when I returned back to the home office and fed Magdalene, I took her with me and for 2 hours I had her strapped in the baby bjorn while I passed tools and new toilet suite parts to my dad to install.
The flexibility of having a family business and working in people’s homes means that I can make last minute decisions like this. In the corporate world, there would have been no chance.
Dad felt he had the best of both worlds. He had his daughter and grand-daughter working with him.
Wouldn’t it be great if all of our workplaces could be more accommodating for mums and their babies? Flexible work arrangements would put less strain on our child care systems and less financial strain on families who rely on this care.
I feel so blessed that my mum is able to look after my children. I hope one day I will be able to return the favour to my future grandchildren.
Above image source.