The Juggling Act

Thinking back to the first week we went into isolation and I thought I’d never get used to working from home, having the kids around, and just generally adjusting to the new normal we found ourselves in, with little warning. I was stressing about hand sanitiser, children’s Panadol and yup, the great toilet paper shortage. Now, nearly three months later, and I’m feeling anxious about the kids being back in school full time, using public transport again and heading back to the office. Turns out there’s a name for that anxiety. Psychologists call this feeling reverse culture shock, or re-entry syndrome. It's the same as the feeling you might have when you’ve been living overseas for a while and you return home. Unfortunately, we can’t just click our fingers and pick up where we left off. So I reached out to psychologist Belinda Williams from The Bumpy Road to find out a bit more about it and what we can do to help our families adjust.  

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We are slowing starting to come out of isolation after two months, so you’ve probably well and truly run out of things to do with the kids! We all know that sometimes playing with kids can be boring and sometimes we’re just too damn tired to glue another paddle pop stick or race cars. Do kids care? Hell, no! Kids want to play, regardless of how their parents feel. All. The. Time. I know my idea of a good time right now is locking myself in a room on my own with a glass of wine and a book, but if you want to spend time with the family, here’s a couple of ideas that will be fun for you, and also require the smallest amount of energy possible.  

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It was was daughter’s 8th birthday on Friday and now I’m preparing for my son’s tomorrow. Four days. That wasn’t smart planning.  I am far from a Martha homemaker, craft, cooking, entertaining, just not my jam. So I dread the double birthday panic each year. This year however, I have an excellent excuse to dial things back. Like right back! I’ve loved hearing how families have been getting created with their kid’s birthdays over the past couple of months. Drive-by birthday wishes, zoom parties, pinata’s for one. The way that everyone has been able to make their little one's day special in isolation has been so beautiful. Now we’re starting to come out of restrictions and I know the kids are itching for a party! So they’re having three friends in the park with a cake, and individual snack bags. Boom. And we’re done. BUT, there’s still that dreaded C word. No not that one. Cake. The mere thought makes me break out in a cold sweat. So this year I got smart. I got myself a cake coach. Sort of.  

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I don’t know about you but I’m totally guilty of trying to be superwoman. The best teacher, colleague, boss, partner, chef, cleaner, the list goes on and on (and we’re the only ones crossing things off it). Why are so many working mums obsessed with proving that we can do it all? We know it’s not really achievable but we still seem to hold ourselves, and others – to these incredibly high expectations.  I’m pretty sure if I served the kids vegemite on toast or weetbix for dinner, they’d be okay. If the house wasn’t perfectly tidied at the end of each day, the walls wouldn’t fall down. If we skip homework one night, it won’t stop them from getting into university. But the guilt stops me from doing any of those things. And as I sit here with my shoulders and back aching, tired from another night of stressing about ‘what ifs’, I wonder when on earth I unwittingly joined ‘the cult of intensive motherhood’ as author Felicity Harley calls it. Her new book ‘Balance & other BS’ landed on my kitchen table back in April and it perfectly sums up the past few months for many working mums. So I reached out to the mum-of-three, to find out why we do this to ourselves…  

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I feel like I’ve been doing an awful lot of sitting since I’ve been working from home. I get the kids to school and daycare then sit. All day. In the one spot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely spot in the winter sun, but my thighs are not thanking me for it and I’m struggling to get motivated now that it’s getting colder outside. So I put in a call to fitness goddess and founder of 12-week body transformation Michelle Bridges to find out how she’s been handling iso and to get some tips to try and get my health back on track.  

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Financially, times are tough for a lot of people right now. To try and help ease the burden, the government announced quicker turnaround and less stringent conditions for people wanting to access their superannuation. As soon as that was announced, 600,000 people registered their intent to apply. As of the end of April, the Australian Tax Office had approved over 450,000 applications worth a total of $3.8 billion dollars. That cash hits peoples accounts within five days. You might be thinking about applying yourself, but before you do, I reached out to Lacey Filipich, Founder and Director of Money School to find out the pros and cons of withdrawing your super early.  

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How divine is Emma Watkins, otherwise known as Emma Wiggle? I mean she’s bubbly, talented, keeps our kids entertained, wears a bow in her hair ten times better than Jo Jo Siwa, and somehow manages to look fabulous in yellow. That’s a gift. But it turns out she has a weakness, she can’t cook! I think she’s basically my spirit animal. You know, except for the singing and dancing part. And the yellow. Blondes can't wear yellow. I caught up with Emma about how The Wiggles have managed to pivot during Covid to stay connected with their audience and what she’s been doing in quarantine… prepare yourselves for a massive overload of cuteness!  

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Right across the country, we’ve seen small businesses pivoting just to stay afloat. Gin producers making hand sanitiser, pubs doing takeaway meals and even a plant nursery offering drive-through purchases. It’s a tough time across the board with revenue heavily impacted and unimaginable pressures put on businesses that they didn’t see coming. If you’re a small-business owner, you’ve probably been trying to work out how to keep staff, hold onto your customers and trying the best you can to future proof your income because things are probably going to get worse before they get better. So I reached out to Lisa Burling, the Founder of award-winning PR agency LBPR, and author of ‘All It Takes Is A little Gumption’, to get some tips to help your business not only survive, but thrive.  

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So it’s Friday, we made it to the end of the week jugglers, whoop! And cause things have been pretty grim, I thought we could all do with a laugh. Parenting sometimes feels like a repetitive cycle of gradually morphing into your own mother, realising what's happening, trying to fight it and eventually giving in. So, I had to laugh when I read about a moment a mum on Twitter shared, in which her kid imitated her to perfection. It set off an avalanche of similar hilarious stories, which I had to share with you. Sick burn kids, sick burn.  

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At the end of June, parents are facing the prospect of paying childcare fees again. As we all know, in April, the government put an emergency plan in place to save centres as parents starting pulling their kids in droves because of the pandemic. Hallelujah, working parents finally felt seen and valued. Education minister Dan Tehan recently said the plan had “done its job” with 99% of services remaining open, and most providers saying the emergency response has helped with financial viability. But with many parents now out of work, on reduced incomes or facing the threat of job loss, surely we run the risk of it collapsing again if childcare doesn’t remain free? Personally, after 7 years of childcare costs – four of those for two kids – these past two months have been a massive financial relief BUT, I also don’t want my son’s incredible preschool to go under. It’s a really divisive issue, so I reached out to some working mums to see how they feel about paying childcare fees again.  

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