Thank goodness it’s my Friday

Today is my Friday because I do my paid work in four days rather than the usual five. It’s especially good because I’ve got a weekend away visiting family and friends and because last week I took the Thursday off and worked the Friday and it really threw me.

I think I would find it hard going back to full-time work now that I’m a full-time mum. And I think I’ve mentioned before that I find the work/life balance thing hard and I think I would go crazy if I worked full-time.

I went to a seminar today about Women in Leadership which my work kindly run and three female senior managers gave a 20 minute talk each about their take on leadership. One of the women said if you’re contemplating a leadership role, for goodness sake sort out how the housework gets done. As she rightly mentioned many women are in the paid workforce either part- or full-time and still take on the ‘traditional home duties’.

I have been thinking recently that if I want to move up the ladder at work, probably into a leadership role because that’s what generally happens when you’re at a higher level, then I’d definitely employ a housekeeper. I wouldn’t want someone just to do the cleaning, I’d want cleaning, gardening, minor maintenance. In fact I’d want me cloned for a few hours a week, at home doing this stuff. Even now, I think I could do with some paid help around the house.

In my three days off, the first day is spent grocery shopping and tidying up the mess that’s accumulated during the week. We also do some washing, cooking and probably some cleaning as dog fur has also accumulated. We might even fit in a mother’s group get-together. Things might have slowed down a bit on Saturdays and Sundays and I like actually having some time to read The Weekend Australian, although inevitably I’m still reading it two weeks later. Some time during all of this I might go out. If it’s a day outing, then there goes the domestic stuff and if it’s a night outing, then there goes much of the next day’s domestic stuff because I’m feeling tired.

I’d love to know how other single women or parents with full-time children cope. And I mean full-time. I don’t get every second weekend or more off. I have my son all the time with rare occasions when someone might babysit. How does this category of single parents cope with this situation? If any of you read this please leave me a comment.

Anyway, it’s my Friday night and I’m sitting in front of a computer which is what I do a lot of at work. Bye.