The Juggling Act

Sarah and I went back into the office for the first time last week, and we were both really surprised by the anxiety that came with returning to the real world. Being back around strangers again in an uncontrolled environment, getting public transport and just generally venturing out of our little bubble.  I’m not normally an anxious person but this pandemic has – understandably – made it very difficult for a lot of us to stay rational and calm. So I put in a call to mediation and mindfulness teacher Luke McLeod to see if he can give us some advice on managing that return to the office anxiety.  

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The pelvic floor struggle is real people. And I think I’m one of the lucky ones. I had an emergency caesarean and then a planned C-section, so let’s just say things are in slightly better shape than they might have otherwise been! But that doesn’t mean I’m back to my former trampoline jumping days, or sneezing without worrying what the fall out (literally) is going to be. Look I’m getting pretty candid here, but honestly, why aren’t we talking more about things that impact so many women? One mumma-to-be who is keen to get those taboo conversations happening is former MAFS bride Jules Robinson. In this ep, Jules gets candid about the unspoken changes of pregnancy and dealing with online trolls.  

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Both Sarah and I returned to the office last night and it was very weird. I was too scared to touch anything on the train, if someone coughed they got daggers, there are new signs all over the place and I was surprised by how anxious I felt - especially since I'd actually been looking forward to the social aspect. It's called re-entry syndrome, and it's something a lot of working parents are experiencing right now.  

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I returned to work this week for the first time in four months, and it was totally weird. There was no one in here the first day and I felt like a total leper on the train coming in. Day two was slightly better, but now I’ve got FOMO for my old working from home life (look there’s no pleasing some people). But spare a thought for the people returning from mat leave after an extended period, only to head back to work – from home.  

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I remember when I went back to work after my first child and I wondered how on earth I was going to concentrate and actually keep my job. I was so damn tired. I even wore two different black heels to work on my first day. Yup, nailing that return to work. It honestly felt like she had some sort of direct feed into my work calendar because without fail, she would have a nightmare night right before I had a massive day planned at work. What’s with that?! Getting your little one sleeping well when you’re back at work is crucial (you know, to not getting fired). So I reached out to pediatric nurse and infant sleep specialist, Francesca Kendall, who is also the founder The Sleep Escape, to debunk some sleep myths and helps our little ones develop healthy sleep habits so we can all stay employed.  

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I headed back into the office today for the first time in four months, but I have a feeling that it won’t be for long. Melbourne is currently in lockdown and partaking in the joy of home-schooling, and it feels like Sydney won’t be far behind. As we all know, homeschooling has been the worst. It's been impossible to get anything done with kids around. American journalist, Helen Rosner, started a storm on Twitter recently when she shared a perfect, hilarious note, wordlessly handed to her friend by her daughter, while they were both in lockdown. ‘David Poopt in his pans’. Just what you want to read while you’re trying to negotiate a video conference. The simple tweet set off a cavalcade of mums and dads sharing similar stories from WFH life.   

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This week, along with many working parents across the country, I’m feeling a sense of dread about my bank balance. The temporary free childcare lifeline has been yanked from us, with the industry moving back to its expensive former model yesterday. Over the past few months my hours have been temporarily reduced – and I already only work four days because of the cost of care – and that was only just manageable because I wasn’t paying childcare fees.  I know the move is a welcome relief for the childcare sector that’s been impacted by the hasty policy, but to think we can just go straight back to how things were pre-pandemic while we’re still in the middle of an economic crisis, is utter madness and totally short-sighted.  

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It has been so lovely to see the kids back at school and around their friends and teachers again as the restrictions around COVID lifted for most of the country. But for thousands of sick Aussie kids, this hasn’t been the case. One mum witnessed this first hand, when her once vibrant ten-year-old son missed school for almost two years with rare blood disorders. She had to watch as he deteriorated through lack of contact with his friends and tutors, when the hospital became his school. So Megan Gilmore wanted to do something about it, show him that he had a future and a life worth living, and also change the lives of the other sixty thousand children who are sitting at home or hospital right now, disconnected from their school community.  

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As you all know, my little family spent a month down in Victoria with my parents at the start of the first lockdown period to have some support with homeschooling and working from home. Now they’re going through it all over again as a second wave of Covid sweeps through Melbourne. All my family are down there and so many friends, who are all really struggling to process another six weeks in isolation. As I sit here in Sydney, still able to go down to the shops, send my kids to care, and catch up with friends, I can only imagine the emotions they’re all going through down south. So, I reached out to a bunch of working parents in Melbourne to find out exactly how they’re feeling.  

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Sitting at the kitchen table on a dining chair WFH has done shocking things to my neck and shoulders, I believe my massage therapists words on the weekend were, ‘your neck is not good…’ And it turns out ‘tech neck’ is just one of the problems we have to look forward to if we continue to work from home long term. A team of researchers created a fictional character called Susan, who represents what the average desk worker could look like in 25 years if we don’t change the way we’re working from home. Hunched shoulders, weight gain, hair loss and eye strain could all be common issues with our bed-to-desk commute, general lack of movement and decrease in exposure to sunlight. That’s a pretty picture right?! But some people are calling BS on this research, claiming they have found that they’re looking after themselves better while working from home. So I reached out to a bunch of working parents to see how they feel about the Susan of the future!  

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