14 January 2016

Being Back at Work.

Enjoying getting a bit dressed up for work but bugger the high heels.
Photo by Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph.

A friend of mine recently described going back to work as exhilarating.

Wow, I thought.  What a good word.  It got me wondering how I feel about it.

Relief was the first thing that sprang to mind.  It has been really quite liberating to be able to nip to the loo without anyone breaking into a fight the other side of the door, or someone wanting my attention the moment I pick up the telephone.

I've loved it. 

No-one argues, switches radio stations or moans about what is for lunch and it's the first time I have had proper, adult company for some years - sustained conversations without interruptions and no requests to wipe a bottom.

People who speak English fluently is also a bonus after having tried too many a talk with our Foreign Language Students who go home as soon as they can understand the language enough to chat.  We keep having to start all over again and it's exhausting!

Nowadays I get to sit down for a solid 5-6 hours straight and use my brain. 


Not that it's not intellectually challenging being at home with two young children.  By far the most stretched I've ever been in my life is thinking of ways to get my two boys to want to do what I want them to do, in an effort to keep friction at a minimum.  


But it's been worth it.  Now they can get themselves ready, fetch their own food and drinks and are increasingly independent generally (*sob*), we're all in a position to move on.  It's time.


You might like to know that your NHS seems to be in safe hands.  My background is in finance, so it has made sense to return to it and that's where you'll find me now - in one of their departments.  I have found the people - so far - clever, kind and competent.  They care very much about how public money is spent and patients aren't just numbers.  Although I still don't see why the man who sits next to me insists on emailing me relatively unimportant info rather than just telling me it, but that's the younger generation for you. 

Frankly, I'm glad most of them are around my age and I have felt quite at home getting dressed up a bit and popping on more make up.  


Bugger the high heels though. Those days are gone.


How do you feel about going back to work?