On Sunday I realised I have 12 full weeks left of maternity leave.
This is shocking! I feel like I’ve just got into it! I have nothing to show for it either. Obviously that’s a lie - I have a happy healthy beautiful 9 month old baby boy to show for it - but I really thought I’d have done something else useful-but-fun in this year. Like, brain useful-but-fun. I haven’t even read a whole book, unless you count baby books, and I don’t. I’m still reading (I use the term loosely) the same book I was reading the week I gave birth. I had hoped I’d come up with a new wonderful app that everyone would download so that I could leave my job, or come up with something insightful and mathematically marvellous about the Rubik’s cube that would lead to me doing a phd and so leave my job, or get accepted onto a paid teacher training placement so that I. Could. Leave. My. Job.
Anyway, none of that happened. And so I will return to my job in just under 12 weeks. So I set myself a challenge that I immediately failed of spending 1 hour per working day doing something just for me. Monday didn’t work out because Facebook and bbc news and WhatsApp. Tuesday I managed to turn on my laptop and load up visual studio only to find that my licence had lapsed due to inactivity and my internet connection was not good enough to sort it out. So that’s 2 days gone. And this evening I’ve realised there are 4 bank holidays before my return date, so I won’t get those hours because we will probably be doing something outdoorsy as a family. So my 60 fun hours is already down to 54.
Tomorrow I have to be out of the house having fun with other mummies and their babies. I might have wine. Wednesday is my favourite day of the week. Maybe I should just write off Wednesday for useful-but-fun days...
Ok so the potential hours of useful-but-fun hours just dropped from 60 to 42. Whoops. I’m sure I can do something useful in 42 hours. Rubik’s cube I’m coming to get you!