By the powers of modern technology, I am blessed with the flexibility of having, one day a week or so, the support of the hubster working from home.

The benefits of this are endless…

For starters, I am not alone in my parenting quest, for that one weekday I am one half of a team again. I do not have to worry about getting 50% of the household out of the door on time at 8.15, and in the cold, rain, wind etc etc it is somewhat of a halleluia midweek blessing to leave dangermouse at home in her PJs while I dash Tigs to nursery in a fraction of the time.

That nursery dash will frequently become the sole time I make it to a real live supermarket; one that doesn’t deliver and will save me a few quid. At 9am, I am queen of the aisles…no kids, no customers, just me and the Aldi bargains to be had. It’s amazing what constitutes a day out these days.

Sometimes, the ability to be able to leave the house for 45 minutes during naptime might take me for a run, to get my eyebrows threaded…the Skies the limit on the possibilities (as long as they are within the 45 minute window). Plus, there are always annoying appointments that need 30 minutes of childcare cover.

Play dates at home are a definite no go when Daddys working upstairs in our bedroom-come office. The sound of laughing, screaming, fighting children and / or vtech toys on repeat doesn’t go down too well on a conference call. Nor for that matter does One Direction music, so always remember to turn off the sound system speaker in the bedroom before commencing the 1D dance off in the kitchen.

The situation is mutually beneficial to be fair. I’m pretty sure a day off from the commute, the office wear and the distractions in the workplace mean he does get a full days work done from the ‘home office’ aka our bedroom. We have recently installed a proper desk, although the bed is often suspiciously, repeatedly unmade and warm on inspection (but that’s okay because you can read laying down right?).

My back might just be broken a little more than usual, as the picking up toys goes off the scale, and is compounded with picking up mugs, crisp packets, more mugs, chocolate wrappers and just one more mug. For every moment I have to myself, I pay with an extra box of toys being upturned / blanket camp being made in the process of Daddy helping entertain the girls. What I gain in company and moral support I pay for in mess, but maybe I should learn a thing or two from this and stop picking up, start emptying out toys myself now and again.

Daddy is often far too busy working to pop out for the nursery run, or a lunch together. But funny that the grass might miraculously get cut whilst I’m out or other random odd jobs get done. Sometimes the distractions are just too tempting…and the mind needs a break from all that work doesn’t it? Lunch is delivered upstairs to daddy while he slaves over the keyboard…but dinner is a rare opportunity to eat together mid week. Which means no staggered and repetitive cooking / reheating / washing up for me. Small wins go a long way for Mum.

The children are a confused mess of knowing Daddy’s upstairs, but being told to leave him alone – in fact to forget he’s there, but then have him appear to play every hour or so, just to initiate the cycle again. Ultimately though, knowing he is around, is lovely for everyone. Seeing their faces light up when he opens the door from the nursery run is pretty priceless. Or, sometimes, when he does the pick up, that’s pretty magic too.

The WFH day of choice usually conveniently aligns with Tigs 5pm gymnastics class…meaning we don’t have to take Dangermouse along and spend an hour wrestling her off the mats, which is always a bonus.

Bathtime on WFH days is often that little bit earlier, with all of us encouraging a ‘nice early bath’, as opposed to the just walked in the door ‘it’s still a bit early for bath’ approach rest of the week. Funny that.

On occasion, the idea of working from home is more successful than the reality, with us all getting in each others way or distracting each other from our days objectives. It’s not unusual for the words ‘never working from home again’ to be heard at some point during the day (and swiftly retracted). So there won’t be any permanent work from home job any time soon, but the odd day here and there? A change is as good as a rest, for all of us, right?

x MMT

Do you or your partner manage to work from home? How is it working out for you?!

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