The career break full time report: It’s extra time

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Six months ago I shared my career break half time report. Well the final whistle has sounded and it appears it’s all square. Extra time has been called. I am going to be off on career break for a further year. Just as well, the first one just flew by. Like any new job I feel like I am only starting to find my feet so I am thrilled to be continuing in my new (temporary) role as stay at home mum.

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

After sharing the half time report in January I faced a difficult February from the point of view of solo parenting. My husband who travels with work a bit anyway was not only away with work but also heading to Sochi with Team Ireland in the Winter Olympics. I was left holding the babies (literally). It was a difficult time due to school mid-term and sickness but I got through it. You can catch up on a blow-by-blow account of all the fun that time brought here.

Before I knew it, it was March and our new extension was still sporting plaster coloured walls which meant we had still not ‘moved in’ to the room. Thankfully while hubby was away I had arranged for a painter to start when he got back, and 4 days of painting later the downstairs was looking fresh again. Time to furnish the playroom. With my little man’s 5th birthday coming up and our habit of inviting family over for some drinks, cake and nibbles on our kids birthday’s meant there was a deadline to getting the place in order. There were a few trips to IKEA, a few fights with hammers and screwdrivers but we managed to get the house back into some sort of shape by the time the family gathered. Our garden however was a complete mess.

April saw Easter holidays fly around and a break to Dungarvan. Whenever there are school holidays you might as well write off those weeks. It is spent picking up after them, making snacks, drinks, ferrying them here, there and everywhere.

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May arrived and brighter evenings showed the promise of fun times ahead. Our garden however was less than bright and we set to work to sort it out. Our budget was all but blown and the only indulgence was a new shed – really an essential given the old one was over a decade old and literally rotting. Bless my (non DIY) husband who dug up a patch of grass and laid some paving slabs to create a little patio area to put our garden furniture on (our old patio is somewhere under our new playroom) and we placed our trampoline and swings back into place. Ok, our grass was severely lacking but by the end of May we had an area we could let the kids out to play in and Mammy and Daddy could sit and have a glass of wine.

Timing our garden TLC couldn’t have been better. June was pretty good weather wise. With school winding down and the weather heating up I was truly delighted to have made the decision to extend my break and there have been numerous trips to the beach over the past couple of weeks.

Okay, financially it is a pain but we budgeted carefully and made some adjustments and sacrifices to make it work. On the balance of it I wouldn’t find a job that would pay me enough for the time I am spending with my kids right now.

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As for the next 12 months I am certain they will go by just as fast. First on the agenda is a holiday. We are blessed to be able to get away this year (thanks hubby for all that hard work you put in). With the house done from the point of view of major construction there are still lots of little things I want to get done. I still have to do the clothes and toy clear out I mentioned in the half time report (and in fact every storage area in my house could do with a clear out) and I have an exciting new project I am working on which I hope to reveal before this calendar year is out.

I will of course continue to blog my way through it all right here and I hope you will stay with me as I continue this journey through motherhood.  You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook or get all posts straight to your inbox via the Subscribe box on the right.

 

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