Decisions, Decisions

Probably one of the hardest parts of being parents is all the decisions you have to make for your little people every day. Simon and I have recently been discussing - at length - sending Oliver to nursery. He will be 2 in August and although we manage his care between us alongside our full time jobs, we felt that him starting nursery even for a short time each week would really support his development and social skills. 

Nurseries and finding the right one for your child is a personal choice and only you know if it's the right place and if you trust these 'strangers' with your son or daughters care. Everyone has their own criteria for what they are looking for in a nursery and I'm sure like us, you'll have/had a long list of questions. 

We are extremely lucky that we have a nursery at the top of our road and after lots of research and emails back and forth the three of us went along to check it out for ourselves. 

Oliver practically skipped up the road, although a little reluctant when we first got there he was soon crashing through the rooms, joining the other children doing some colouring and had found a train that he got quite attached too. 
The staff were wonderful, all the children seemed really happy and a few children arrived whilst we were there and they had no issues leaving their parents. All of our questions were answered and they seemed to really understand how we were feeling making this decision. We were delighted and for the first meeting it couldn't have gone better. 

We have decided to start Oliver off at half a day per week for a few months so he can get used to leaving us and having something different in his routine. The nursery, like most, offer a settling in session so Oliver will do two x two hour sessions, one where we stay for a short time then leave for an hour or so and the next when we drop him off and leave for slightly longer. Fingers crossed he enjoys the experience as we just know he will get a lot out of it in the long run. 

Onto the money side of things, we have looked at many nurseries in our area and most of the pricing is around £25-£30 for a half day and £55 upwards for a full day. You can't put a price on your child's care so for me it was more about what can we afford and does this nursery support Oliver's needs. As soon as we walked through the door we knew this offered both. 

I thought I'd put together some of the questions we've asked ourselves recently and might be helpful for you if you're considering nursery now or in the future. 

• How often do we need childcare and how much childcare can we afford? 
• What time of day would work best for your child to be at a nursery? 
• What activities do the nursery offer? 
• How does the nursery monitor the child's development? 
• Are there outside play areas? 
• What routines do the children have during the time at nursery? 
• How many key-workers per child and how many children in a group? 

I'm sure I'll write some more as Oliver has his first day and we settle into this new change to our week. 

I'd love to hear from you if you've been in a similar situation and how you decided on your child's care. 

Working from home...the truth!

I thought it was about time I dispelled some 'working from home' myths as it's something I'm been met with a lot especially since working from home more frequently over the past year. 

For those of you who work from home, I'm sure you will understand where I'm coming from and for those of you who don't and see it as the easy option, please read on and I hope to change your minds. 

I divide my working life pretty much equally between being based in the office and at home. It suits our childcare arrangements with Oliver and works for my organisation too. I am extremely lucky so please don't think I'm moaning about having this opportunity as I really enjoy and am grateful to do what I do. My objection is when I get comments like 'working from home doesn't count as work', 'you're just sitting with your feet up watching TV really' and 'you don't actually work though do you?'. 

Well the answer is yes I do.

I have a desk set up at home exactly the same as I do in the office. The only difference is that I have one eye on the baby monitor when I'm at home and get made a lot less tea! 

I've often been told it takes a certain type of person to be able to manage to work from home and I can absolutely tell you that it is not easy. You have to really switch off. That bit of washing you'd like to do or hoovering that needs doing may be staring you in the face but work is the priority. 

Fortunately I'm pretty good at managing my time. So when Oliver goes to bed I make myself a cup of tea, settle down at my desk and get into work generally for 3-4 hours. I try not to have too many distractions, radio, TV, it's as much like the work environment as I can get. 
I actually find working from home really productive and I would go so far as to say it's more productive, for me, than being in the office. No quick conversations about TOWIE or the latest news story!  

<Google Image>

That said it doesn't come without it's challenges. When working from home during the day I find it particularly hard. Oliver wants my attention or the TV is on, there are lots more distractions and other things I could be doing. My husband, Simon is brilliant at making sure when I'm working he takes care of Oliver and distracts him. It's hard to explain to a toddler that Mummy is working and not to be disturbed but I hope the older he gets the more he will understand thing and appreciate that it means I actually get to spend more quality time with him as a result.  

So for those with the preconception that working from home is the easy route, think again, at least it's not for those who actually work! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on working from home and how you manage it especially if you're a working parent too.