Home Sweet Home

I recently had a light bulb moment when I realized just how much I miss working in an office rather than staying at home and freelancing. You know how you have those little zings, where all of a sudden the fog clears – literally and metaphorically – for me it’s sometimes been as simple as switching on the demister for the windscreen.

Last week I was feeling a tiny bit warm and fuzzy as my kids all crowded round the bench top after school and I threw snacks at them and watched them gulp and yell for more (if you’re imagining a zookeeper chucking fish at seals you’ve got the picture). As this happy scene unfolded we mused and chatted about the day. Now, you may think I’m getting a bit smug here, but fear-not, this is how the scene unfolded.

My eldest daughter (12): “Oh mum, I forgot to say, sorry I only ate one of my hard-boiled eggs for lunch yesterday…”

(I had given her two, and I hate waste – as a child I had to everything, even if it was crawling off the plate, which actually sometimes it was as my own mother is a great believer in eating food that is clearly rancid)

Me: “Yep, I noticed that, I put the other one in the fridge”

Daughter: “It wasn’t because I couldn’t manage it, it was because Clara played hand ball with it”

Me: “That would have been good information when you got home. I ate that for my lunch.”

Oh the joys. Yes office politics can be brutal, and whilst canteen food can be bad, you can only presume they don’t bounce the eggs before adding them to the salad. I proactively got out my laptop and logged into the job section.