Balancing Act… Brummymummyof2

I have been fascinated by the reactions that people have had to me when I was on maternity leave, when I was getting ready to go back to work, and now that I am back at work.  I find that some people are very judgemental about how they expect families to work.  Well, I’ve got news for you everyone, we’re all different, we all have different needs and that is one of the amazing things about us.

My aim is to share the stories of families of all different types and spread the word that we are all playing a #BalancingAct to get through and raise our little people the best way we can. Let’s celebrate the diversity between our families, let’s not judge each other.

So, this week is Em from Brummymummyof2, over to you Bab!

1. Tell me about your family

My name is Em and I blog at brummymummyof2 as well as teach secondary school children. I am 36 and live with my Hub, my preschooler daughter and my one year old son. We live in Birmingham along with our dog Lucy and cat Stinky Pete.

2. What was your job/position before you started your family?

I was a Head of RE in a local secondary school.

3. What was your work-life balance like?

I loved my job and found my work-life OK actually. I have always loved teaching and yes I did have to mark and write reports but I enjoyed the day to day of being at school and of course the holidays!

4. How did you find being away from work when you were on maternity/paternity leave?

I loved being on maternity leave and I loved being away from work! As much as I loved my job I did love being with my children a little bit more. Sure there are times when I craved being with adults but I kept in touch by going on the odd staff night out and also taking part in KIT days.

5. Have you returned to some kind of work since having baby and how did you come to that decision?

I returned to work full time as Head of RE after my daughter and I now work as an Upper Pay Scale 2 Teacher, teaching RE and BTEC Health and Social Care in the same school. The first time round it wasn’t an option in the school for me to go part time but after my son I decided to drop down to two days. I admire Mums that work full time and also Mums that are with their kids all the time. But for me I needed a mix of the two and feel I have a nice balance.

6. How (if at all) has work changed since you returned (if you did)?

I am now just a teacher and I have found it really hard to let go and stop being in charge of RE. Sometimes I feel a little bit like people see me as just a Mum or a bit of a skiver but I need to think it is only for a short time and then I will be back at work. I need to make the most of it!

7. Describe your work-life balance now in 3 words.

Juggling Busy Happy

8. Would you change anything about the family and work balance that you currently have?

For this moment in time it works really well for me and who knows what will happen in the future! But for now? This is perfect.

Details

Website: http://www.brummymummyof2.co.uk

Twitter: @brummymummyof2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brummymummyof2

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+EmConwaybrummymummyof2

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brummymummyof2/

For all the previous posts, see the #BalancingAct page.

If you think you’d like to get involved in this feature and share your story, please leave a comment, tweet me @mamavsteacher or email me mamavsteacher@outlook.com.

Mama’s reflection #11

The week that was half term! It was so lovely this week to be able to spend some time with sprog (exhausting but amazing!).  We’ve done some great things inside and out and about, although I had been hoping for better weather to be able to be out more but never mind.  We’ve seen friends – old and new, we’ve had arts and crafts time, we’ve had baby sensory time (always a winner) and we’ve had lots of messy food time.

It’s been incredibly difficult to manage my work load and being mama over this week.  For all the people who think a teacher leaves work at 3.30 and is done with it, you probably won’t believe me when I say that despite still not having a full teaching timetable (meaning that I have more spare time in school hours than everyone else) I have so far spent the whole 2 days that sprog was at nursery sat at the desk working, a couple of late evenings and I still have more to do this evening.  I am working on the understanding that I have a very limited amount of time to get everything done and I have to work really effectively – this is working. However, I did want to have one day with some time to myself – this is not working! I don’t have the answer yet, so if any teacher types out there can make any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

On another note, I have started doing my #100happydays this week on instagram (MrsBudgie12) which has been great fun so far.  I also started doing the 30 ab challenge which has started appearing a lot on Facebook – we’re both doing it – we’re on day 5, I can safely say that it is hurting! But if I can keep at it for 30 days, maybe, just maybe, it will help shed some of the mummy tummy.

I’ve actually looked back at photos from this time last year today and I can’t believe how much more I know now.  This time last year, I was 7 months pregnant (looking more like full term) and on a Hen Weekend in the beautiful sunshine getting overly warm and fat feet!  “It’s a Knock Out!” was the activity of choice so I was delegated the team photographer job and had to have a stupidly large t-shirt to wear.  This year, sprog is wearing his baby grow in matching colour scheme to the Hen Do.

Contrary to the image portrayed in this photograph, I am not a giant! As such a large portion of the”Hen’s” were shorties, the taller ones are the 2 of the right of the front row but we considered it too much hassle for me to get down there and get back up again for the photo so I was the only tallie who remained standing!!

I also thought I’d include one more picture from last year to make everyone chuckle…ever seen a 7 month pregnant human banana?

You have now!