Catching up

Sorry for not posting any photos the last couple of days. It turns out the problem I've been having with Blogger is a known issue, and clearing the cache solved it. Now I can finally post pictures (having seated Junior in front of the TV so that I have some time to myself).

I went out partying the last couple of nights right after work, which is highly unusual for me. I turn into a pumpkin long before midnight, now that I have my own little alarm clock that wakes me up at 6 every morning, demanding a cup of milk.

I took pictures though.
Here's a little tube of Vegemite, made especially for travelling Aussies. It should last us the trip to Israel.

And here's a small guitar I got at KMart. I couldn't help it... I was shopping for undies (20% off!) and saw this in the bargain bin. It was marked down by about 60% because it had been returned without the box. How could I resist? Junior loves it.
It's been raining the last couple of days.

I don't think the grapes will be ready for harvest by the time we leave.

Gumboots

Today was cold and wintery. It should be summer! Where's that global warming everyone keeps promising?

TGiM

Thank goodness it's Monday...
Yes, it's been a hard weekend. I was actually waiting for Monday, all excited about going to work. It's not that there's anything particularly interesting at work, it's just that everyone there is an adult.
It rained the entire weekend and we were stuck at home going stir crazy. Lately I am not handling toddler situations very well and I tend to lose my temper. Also, last Friday hubby took care of things on the home front while I went out to the pub with my work mates. I had so much fun! I'm not normally the pub type of person, and I don't drink beer, but still: I had a great time just hanging out with friends.
It made me think that perhaps, sometimes, you know, I don't actually, you know, enjoy being a mum very much. It's not that I don't love my boy more than anything in the world. It's just that sometimes, it's hard.

Three years ago today

Today is Junior's third birthday. Much excitement; this is the first year he actually understands what a birthday is and everything that it entails, like cake, balloons and presents. We are having a small party at the day care centre this afternoon, and a big party this weekend. Which is odd because they will both invlove mostly the same kids. But still, I just had to do something on the actual day.

Since last night I've been annoyingly saying every once in a while, "three years ago right now, I was having contractions." I will be like a broken record till this afternoon, then it will change to "three years ago right now, I was writhing in agony" for a few hours, followed by "three years ago, my son, the doctors finally yanked you out since you absolutely refused to leave after overstaying your stay by nearly two weeks."

It was the happiest day of my life... and every day since as well.

The return of the Jedi

I'm back from holidays, refreshed, happy to be home and happy to be back at work.

A family holiday is not always quite as idyllic and fun as you might think. It's not easy spending 24 hours a day with spouse and child in one hotel room. I finished off half a packet of Nurofen just for my headaches. But overall, it was really good to be totally away from the daily routine of home and work for a week. And it also makes everyone appreciate the little things that make home so wonderful: your own bed, a piece of toast in the morning that doesn't cost $26, and all those familiar little things that make you feel good.

Next trip will be a big one, half way around the world to the holy land...

Something that only happens to mothers of small children

...and probably old people too.
It happens to me way too often: I boil water in the kettle, put the tea bag in the cup, pour the water, and then go do about a million things that need to be done.
Two hours later I throw away a cup of very strong, cold tea.
*sigh*

Wombat's Rule of Working Mothers

There are three things in life: career, home/family, and sanity.
Choose two.

Actually, it's not quite like that. You can have varying degrees of each.
For instance, in my case, my current status-quo in life has the following:

Work: 75%.
Why? Because by the time I drop off Junior at day care, and hubby at work, and find a parking space, and get to my office, I have about 6 hours left to work before I have to leave to pick up Junior. (This includes lunch.) So, if I work 6 hours out of the 8 I'm supposed to, that comes out to 75%. At most.

Home/family: 60%
Why? Well, Junior is at day care five days a week, 9-5. I pay a lot of money for cleaners to clean my home. I hardly do any yard work so it looks like a jungle. I do grocery shopping, and basic cooking and cleaning, and lots of laundry. So let's call it 60%.

This leaves me with:
Sanity: 65%
(200 - (75+60))
which is about right, and a level I'm willing to cope with.

This Passover I offered to host the Sedder, and the balance was tipped quite heavily towards the home/family side of the triangle, which would have caused a small dent in my work, and a huge dent in my sanity.
So I decided, bugger it all, I want my sanity, and so declared, one day in advance, that Passover has officially been canceled this year.

I'd write more but I have to go pick up Junior.

Career, kids, and life in general

One of the things I love most about working at a university is the opportunity to attend courses, seminars and training programs. Last week I attended a 2-day seminar that was meant to encourage women to seek executive positions at the university. While there are more women than men in the undergraduate, graduate, and lower level academic staff levels, when it comes to the top jobs women are still under-represented, and the university is actively trying to change that.
Well, seeing as I only started my career here a couple of months ago, I'm still rather far from any executive job, however the seminar was very useful in several ways. First, it got me thinking about my career in the long-term, rather than focusing on the next few years like I had been doing. Second, it gave me the opportunity to meet and listen and talk to women who are older than me and more advanced in their careers, and to learn from their experiences. Finally, it was great to meet other women academics and network. And the food was good too.
I was quite stressed specifically about the next couple of years. Now I'm a bit less stressed, but still. It's the same old dilemma that so many other women face: how do you raise kids and also advance your career at the same time? We really want to have another child. I really want to succeed in my new job because I see it at the base of my future career, and also because it's so interesting and I'd love to spend time doing this research. The problem is, there aren't enough hours in the day! As it is, my son is in day care full time, and I spend less than full time at work because I have to drop him off and pick him up, so I'm left in the middle, feeling guilty that I don't spend enough time with my son and that I don't put enough time and effort into my job.
The seminar helped me to think about these things a bit differently and put some things in perspective. I saw that some women took time off, either completely or part-time, to raise their kids when they were very young, and then went on to develop their careers later on. And some women put their kids in day care 50 hours a week, or hired a full time nanny, cleaner, and cook and paid them their entire salary so they could get on with their careers. I decided that I would rather have kids now, enjoy this stage of life of being a parent to very young children, and take time off from my full time job. I think part-time would be the best option. After a few years, when the kids are older and don't need so much attention, I will still be left with three whole decades to advance my career before I retire. I reckon I can achieve quite a lot in that time!