There’s a lot. But here’s just a few…

1. I couldn’t stay at home a minute longer. I love her but I needed to have some sort of routine that was predictable and familiar. Crying, because it took me 4 hours to get the clothes hung on the line was NOT cool. I cried and cried. How could I let this upset me?
2. I love my job. There, I said it. I’m a teacher and despite the crazy amount of pressure that is placed on my role, I have a job that allows me to create, imagine, play, nurture and make a huge difference.
3. Sometimes I feel guilty. Guilty that I’m not at home with my little one, shaping her life but doing that for other people’s children.
4. I get to be ‘me’ when I’m at work. The ‘me’ that existed before I became a mum. She is a powerful woman. She makes me feel confident and important.
5. I create amazing lunches to make me feel like I’m a better mum. I create car and fish-shaped boiled eggs, turn her sandwich into a jungle by using cookie cutters and ensure that her lunch bag is filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, often with ‘mummy loves you’ written on the banana skin. Somehow, it helps.
6. Sometimes I wish I was a stay-at-home mum. But then I remind myself about the clothes line incident and am thankful that I can go to work.
7. I love my morning commute. But wish it was quicker to get home to my little one in the afternoons.
8. I love my day-care mum. Seriously. I love her. She is me in my absence and I’m totally cool with that. She does all of the things that I envisage that ‘the perfect stay at home mum’ would do with their children.
9. Going to work is like a day-off from home. And vice versa. I also enjoy my few days at home, away from work.
10. Working keeps my house clean and tidy. Being busy means that I have less time to keep a neat, clean house. Therefore I’ve become super efficient. I have daily and weekly routines that keep my house looking and feeling great. During the school holidays, when I have all the time in the world, my house looks like a bomb has hit it!
11. I sneak into her room at night and just watch her sleep. I could watch her forever. Oh those perfect lips. I love her SO much.
12. I love weekends. Family time is so important to me and there is nothing I love more than our weekly Saturday ritual of going down to a local cafe and treating her to a chocolate milkshake. We might go the park, visit a friend for a play date or just hang out at home and snuggle on the lounge and watch a movie. Reading at bedtime is a special time.
13. The time that I have with her is so much more intense and meaningful than if I were with her all of the time.
14. I LOVE that I’m contributing to my family’s income. I am proud to contribute so that we can afford to live in a home we love, give our girl amazing opportunities and take some pressure off my husband.
15. I know I’m teaching her so many things. Like, to follow her dreams. To be true to her unique self. To be independent, resilient and confident. To have empathy. Work ethic. That education is important; and above all else – that love is strong, even in absence.