So this is my first post on my new blog. I haven't done this in a personal capacity because I was always worried something would bite me on the arse professionally. Oh, if you had lived my life professionally you would totally understand how I got to where I am now.
Now I don't give a shit.
Now I do my job because I am good at it, I love it and as far as I'm concerned someone else can have the promotion, I am tired of playing 'the game'. I have wasted too much energy on work when I should have been focused on my family. Most days I spend my patience on other people's children and simply have none left for my own. I think this happens to a lot of teachers, particularly those with welfare roles. Justified or not, it needs to change.
As you can see from my profile pic my kids are only little. They are growing up too fast and I want to set a balanced example for them of women in the workplace with families.
Who am I? What's my story?
We have moved out of Sydney where we have been going nowhere fast for over a decade. Husband worked 6 days a week, I worked full time with kids in care and school/OOSH, living in a small townhouse in Western Sydney. We had some great friends but in the end great friends will stick with you even if you are 90 minutes away rather 3 (and they have stuck, thankfully).
The move was hard on the kids -new school, new friends but they settled in. Now it's like they've been here forever. I haven't had the chance to make local friends yet but that will come in time. Husband and I both work part time now and we live in a huge house with a pool on the lake. It's time for the summer of fun and to cap it off we bought a boat. It is time to stop working so hard and starting living life -we only get one.
This was sadly brought home to me by the death of a colleague at Easter this year after a sudden 2 month battle with cancer. She left behind her husband and 12 year old son. I hope she also left some wonderful memories for them to draw on because I know how much she loved them and just how much they meant to her. So I thank her posthumously for waking me up to my big mistake. My career success means nothing to my family in the end and since I don't know when the end might be we need some fun family memories while our kids still want to have fun with us. So until further notice I work 4 days a week (I play with my 3 yr on Fridays & walk my other 2 home from school with the dogs) and I work bloody hard on those 4 days each week so I'm not lifting a finger during school holidays (all 11 weeks of them each year, become a teacher if you're jealous).
I thoroughly believe that Asylum seekers should be processed onshore and moved quickly into our society and economy (It's in our anthem for God's sake! "For those who've come across the seas,We've boundless plains to share") and I am terrified by the thought of someone like Tony Abbott running my country...so here I will be voicing my opinions and regaling you with the fun I have over the coming months at least.
This is the summer of fun! See you by the pool...
