This weekend is the last weekend of my long service leave. I’ve been at home for six months with the kids, managed to survive a cold winter to see Spring announce its arrival over the past week or so and become very comfortable in my new uniform of jeans and windcheater. So, after this time you think I’d be beginning to get organised, beginning to feel down at the thought of leaving the kids, beginning to think corporate as opposed to kids again.
But I’m not doing any of these things.
On Friday morning I resigned from my job.
After 16 and a half years I’m leaving Cabrini.
It was both an easy and hard decision to make. I loved working at Cabrini, it is a great employer and a wonderful place to work. I’ve made lots of great friends there and the people are the thing I will miss the most. I’ve had great opportunities since I started in the food service area, setting up patient trays and cleaning them off when they came back. Seems such a long time ago now.
So, with four kids to feed and both rent and mortgage to pay why on earth wouldn’t I go back? It’s the modern working mothers problem – childcare. If I was to go back to work full time we would have to place all three kids in full time care. While we could get places easy enough after we ran the figures it turned out that I would be working for a dollar an hour. And that’s without taking day to day costs in to consideration. This realisation also came as a relief. We know the child care where they would have been going and how wonderful they all are but I hated the thought of the kids being in care for so long, five days a week. Call me old fashioned but I much prefer the idea of them being at home with me.
So, how on earth am I going feed the family and pay the mortgage? That’s easy, I’m leaving it to Rae while I lie on the couch and watch Dr Phil and Ready Steady Cook. Nah, couldn’t do that. Until the kids are all at school I will be juggling child care duties with running my own web development and management business. We have a nanny for a few hours a couple of days a week and nana another so I can get work done uninterrupted, then there’s evenings and weekends. It will be tough replacing a full time income with one built around two or three days work a week but we will make it work.
It’s going to be a scary and exciting time ahead so if you know anyone who needs a web site, small (see www.mightier-than.com), medium (www.melbourneice.com) or large (www.cabrini.com.au) tell them to give me , Between Coffees Web Design, a call. Or if you want to meet for a coffee I’ll be free pretty much any time.
Now it’s time for a deep breath, look forward and here we go.
Good luck with your new ventue Tony. It must be a relief to have settled that. I had to chuckle when you wrote “call me old fashioned”. Even though stay at home dads are not a new idea here, in the States you & Rae would still be considered very forward thinking.
It could quite possibly be one of the best things you ever do! Good luck.
What a smart move and will benefit all you I am sure. This is what we have done since my first maternity leave expired when my eldest was born (that’ll be 5 years ago next March … ooola!) The only difference in our case is that it’s me who works at home and I am employed (public service) so my income is a known quantity for my set hours per week.
We did the nanny / babysitter thing 6 hrs a week (2 three-hour mornings) from when the younger one was 6 months old until early last year, when she was 2; since then, it’s been me, occasional nanna support, working nights & weekends, and two beautiful kids who are very self-reliant and help me constantly with work and life. (Granted, I do about 2.5 days’ worth a week now but until recently it was just under 2 days’ worth, a bit less than you). So much do I recommend this way of life that I’m even adding a third child into the mix soon 😉
Congratulations on such a big and brave move! And I’m pitching your services all over the damned place too. (Come to think of it, *I* need a website. *hinthint*)