The Consummate Part Timer

When I became a mum, I became a part timer.

When I had Amelie, I took just under a year in maternity leave*. That year, at home with Amelie, was like nothing else and to date, I regard it as the best year of my life.

And then I returned to work. Part time. And that year was like nothing else. That was the year I was introduced, actually there was no introduction, I was hauled head first, into the life of a part timer - never to return to the life I knew, and took for granted, before.

I constantly find myself trying to cram a full time workload and full time expectations of others into a very short part time week.

But I’m not just talking about work.

The challenges I associate with the term part time, I can easily apply to so many aspect of my life.

“I work part time” but sometimes I think that also makes me feel like a:-

part time wife

part time friend

part time daughter

part time sister

part time aunty

part time blogger

And I try my hardest every day not to feel like a part time mother.

I will admit that I sometimes feel like I am drowning in responsibility and obligations to others.

**When I’m feeling like this, I wish my family lived closer. I wish my husband worked shorter hours and travelled less. I wish I and my friends had the time and the ability to be more accessible to each other. I wish I had a personal assistant, a cleaning lady, a cook, heck - a fairy god mother would be nice. I’d love to live amongst a community of support, with an abundance of Nans and aunts a stone’s throw away. Actually, just an extra hand every once in a while would be nice - to help me keep my head above water – when life is like swimming in this relentless sea of obligation and responsibility.

And then other times, an extra cup of coffee will do and I can magically pull an all nighter and I feel like superwoman and I think “I can do it all!”

And I can. You can live the dream. But sometimes it is hard work. For me, there is no easy part to being part time.

Except, that is, for Amelie. She has always been easy and an absolute pleasure and delight. And some days, on some levels, the most or only help I get is from her, without having to ask or hope for. I will always remember that.

Who needs a fairy god mother when you have your very own little angel? Your precious little hands may be small but already they can move large things and together we can tackle every day challenges.


* I finshed maternity leave and started working one day a week from home when Amelie was 4months old and returned to the office when she was one.

** I know I am fortunate that I work in a profession that pays well and for a company that allows me to return to work part time and to be in the office select hours. I’m so incredibly grateful and happy and optimistic 99.9% of the time. It’s just one of those weeks and I’m just feeling it and venting– you know?