Monday 30 January 2006

the return


Today is my last day of maternity leave. My last day of being a lady of leisure. My last day as a full time mum. My last day as a drain on society*. On the most part, I'm looking forward to returning to work because I really enjoyed my job. That and the fact that our cake Fridays have improved vastly since my departure, so I simply must return for that. On the other hand, it's going to be very, very weird to be without Jack for the entire day. What with all the dribbling, crying, mess, and tantrums that happen at the office, life probably won't be that different.

We met with the cleaning company guy today to get more details and book a thorough spring clean. Part of me feels slightly guilty for getting a cleaner. In my mind, only posh people get cleaners and they get driven around by people called James and send their children off to schools in Switzerland. In reality, several people I know have a cleaner and none of them also employ chauffeurs. I'm the type of person who will clean before the cleaner arrives, so that the cleaner doesn't think badly of me and my slovenly ways. I will refrain from doing this, but I did tidy a bit before the cleaning company guy arrived today. We are getting a very thorough clean before we get a cleaner in weekly, and I'm all agog. The thought of having someone else wipe down the kitchen cupboards, sweep away the metric tons of dog hair, and wash the food splatters off the floor makes me giddy. Most importantly, I didn't want to spend my precious free time with Mr Clean rather than my son.

So it's with a bit of anticipation and a bit of anxiety I return to work tomorrow. I imagine that most of the day will involve remembering passwords and trying to find out who nicked my chair. I will be working on a project called Avon which will make me...yes, you guessed it...the Avon Lady. Here's to being a working girl again and here's hoping I make it through the week without bursting into tears. I will need a lot of hugs and chocolate. And my chair.

*(Not entirely true - my gov't maternity pay ended six months ago.)

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