The week that was

There has been some heavy news this week - both out in the world (the horrific news from Minneapolis, bushfires wreaking devastation in my home state of Victoria), and closer to home with a good friend having a really tough week. I'm reaching out to friends and family who are affected, and looking for ways to help, but I definitely felt a bit down about it all last night.

BUT it was also a busy week back at work after 3 weeks off, with the kids still on summer holidays until the 27th January, creating quite the juggle! The juggle is made more intense because we haven't enrolled the kids in paid childcare this summer - after O "graduated" from Kindy and said his goodbyes I didn't want him to send him back, but he's also a bit young for E's usual school-age vacation care. But then I didn't want to send E to vacation care without O. Knowing we have quite a bit of family around (grandparents and Aunt/Uncle), and me off for 3 weeks, it seemed do-able to go without paid care. However, I've decided to take two extra days of paid leave for the next two Fridays, just to take the pressure off even more, and allow me to do some fun things with the kids before they go back to school. Anyway its all a bit of a logistical challenge but we are getting there!

Monday I was home with the kids, I still managed to get through my emails and do some more urgent tasks on Monday with the kids at home with me. There were probably too many screens at times, but also some jumping on the new trampoline and lots of playing (and lots of interrupting me every 5 minutes!). Then in the afternoon I dropped the kids to Al's parents house (they have moved closer to us now and are about 35 minutes away) for a two night sleepover. It was much easier for both Al and I to work Tuesday/Wednesday knowing the kids were living their best lives with so much attention from their grandparents and Aunty and Uncle who live there too, including lots of swims in their pool, playground plays, and their favourite foods. O was a little unsure about two nights away from Mummy and Daddy, but he was fine once he got there and had a great time!

The kids made magic sand creations at their grandparents.

Tuesday was supposed to be my first day back in the office, and I was really looking forward to it (I had lined up a coffee walk with my colleague and everything). But I woke up with a headache, aches and fatigue, and the thought of going in was a bit too much. We were lucky that none of us were sick over the holiday period, so I guess a short-lived virus is not too much to complain about.

So I rested up, cancelled meetings, and worked only a little from home in the afternoon. Academia has a very slow start in January in Australia, so if ever there was a time to be sick, this was it. Wednesday morning I was feeling much better, and was in the office by 8.30. It was a full day of meetings but it was fun to be back with colleagues and I did manage to get an iced coffee with a colleague and take an afternoon walk too. That evening we went to Al's parents for dinner and picked up the kids, which was nice. O fell asleep on the way home and went straight into bed - no bedtime required. Which gave E and I extra time for reading together - she's loving Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls - the current one we're reading is Black Girl Magic.

Thursday Al had the kids and took them into his shop for the morning (he had the afternoon off). I had packed some activities for them to do in there, but 20 minutes in Al texted me "This is a disaster". And there was literally nothing I could do because I was facilitating an off-site workshop! Apparently screens came to the rescue. Ah well, they weren't complaining - though their behaviour by evening reflected too much screen-time.

Morning coffee and write session

Friday I got up early and went to a cafe to work on my novel (6.30-7.30 am), as per my annual planning goal! I've realised its the only way to have uninterrupted time, especially in summer when O is often up by 5.30 am. My goal is 3 days per week - last week I went twice, not a bad start. Friday was a WFH day for me - I had the kids in the morning and then Al took over in the afternoon. In addition to getting a bit of work done in the morning, I then took them to pick up their back to school stationary, to the library, and then to the playground for a play over lunch. They had a really nice time, and its fun to go somewhere that is free but provides such wholesome stimulation. I was able to get some work planning done in the library too, so I left feeling quite productive. In the afternoon I managed to clear out my email, make a detailed plan for next week, and did a proper shutdown, so I could switch off for the weekend. Friday night I was feeling tired and down, but Al cooked us a delicious dinner, and then after O fell asleep, Al, E and I played a few games of Uno. That was a nice way to end the week, before an early bedtime.

This weekend I already went to a cafe to write this morning at 7am, and picked up my new reading glasses! This was also a 2026 goal and I can already tick it off the list - woohoo. My private health insurance covered them in full so WHY I didn't do it earlier I don't know, other than inertia! Dental check up is next (ALSO covered by insurance).

One of my new pairs of glasses 🤓

Later today we are joining a colleague and her family for a picnic, our first time connecting outside of work, which should be fun. And tomorrow - my parents will be home for the first time since November!!! We are all looking forward to catching up so much. A play at their house and maybe a meal at our local, favourite pub (wwhich has a kids play area!)), may be on the cards.

How was everyone's weeks? Any fun activities planned this weekend? Anyone else put off health related tasks for no good reason, or is it just me?