Family Wellness Mama

It’s coming up to 3 years since I last wrote in this blog and, I’ll be honest, it may as well be a lifetime ago. So much has changed for our little family in such a short space of time.   I lost my mum, a loss that coincided with a career change and the welcoming of a live-out nanny to our household.   Whilst the latter two were considered positives - a big step forward for my career and more help at home, yay! The loss of a parent is not something one can prepare for or come to terms with in any space of time, let alone the 6 weeks I had to say goodbye to my mother, prepare for a new job and arrange a new timetable for the family – one which would see me coming and going at all hours with military precision. After 12 years spent working for the same employer, a move to a different organisation presented me with bigger challenges and responsibilities that I was eager to embrace. However, with the new job came a 24-hour shift pattern; incorporating evenings, weeke...

Knowing I’ll have to work for at least 14 days before I take home a penny is making me bitter. Having to leave my baby in the care of strangers just so I can return to work -working with other people's children, hark the irony! - is a sobering thought, and paying them three-quarters of my salary in the process doesn’t make it any easier. I, like many other parents, welcomed this week’s revelations by the Family and Childcare Trust. Its childcare survey  has shown that British families are spending, on average, a quarter of their income on childcare. That’s more on childcare than a mortgage in some cases. Surely something must be done? I’ve spoken to parents who, when asked if they’re going to have more children, simply reply “we can’t afford anymore,” and they’re not kidding. It would cost an annual average of £16,000 to have two young children in a full-time nursery in the UK. That’s more than some people earn in a year. Which is why I’m unsurprised when many mums - q...