AN INTRODUCTION

I realised that I haven't properly introduced myself. So here goes :)

I am married and we have a 19 month old little girl named Lily. She is the love of our life, the best thing that has ever happened to us. We still look at her each day and thank God that she is ours. My maternity leave officially ended at the end of January. I have been at home with Lily ever since and I am currently looking forward to returning to work once I find a job. 

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa where I lived all my life until I moved to London with my then boyfriend, Andrew (we are now married). We moved to London in August 2008, always staying in the south. 

I love London. I grew up in awe of London, and England too. So once we moved here I couldn't believe how lucky I was to live in such an amazing city!! I still pinch myself today that I am fortunate enough to live in England. It was in London that we made some amazing friends and had some of the best times ever. We seriously had so much fun, perhaps too much fun ;) London is the kind of place that you can live in for years and you'll never be able to do it all or see it all. There's just too much and it changes all the time.

Not only do the places change in London, but your friends do too. Many of our friends moved on to other countries, either returning home or following their loved ones across the ocean. And all for the better. As wonderful as London is, it tends to suck you in and keep you stuck. Not everybody mind you, but certainly a lot of the people we knew. And it did for us. Everyone knows it's no secret that it's darn hard to get on the property ladder, but it's even harder in London! So if you're not living in a house share then you're lucky enough to live on your own. But at the expense of spending the majority of your salary on rent and bills. So it's hard to get ahead financially in London. It's fine while you're still in your partying days, sharing digs and thinking about the next party as opposed to planning a family and your future. For years Andrew and I dreamt of living in the country. We wanted to live where the pace is slower, the air is cleaner and the space more, well, spacious. We always said we didn't want to raise our children in London. As time went on we started feeling too cramped in London. This is probably also thanks to the tiny flat that we lived in. Once Lily arrived our flat got even smaller. And as Lily grew (alarmingly fast!) the even smaller flat started to swallow us. We knew that once we moved out of that flat there was no point in moving elsewhere in London. The next move would be out of London. So that's how we came to live here in Lewes. And we haven't looked back.

As happy as I was to leave that grotty, tiny flat we lived in, it was also hard to say goodbye to London. There were so many memories, so many conveniences, too much I still wanted to explore and experience. But I was ready for the countryside.

London will always have its pros and cons (sometimes these depend on a good or bad day). But it will always be there. And I can visit anytime. 

S.

VOLUNTEER TRAINING

Today I had my first session for the Volunteer Training Course. I am excited about going forward with this :)

Close to my home I have one of the best Children's Centre. I popped in one day to enquire about playgroups and nurseries for children and I was greeted with such friendly help. The ladies on duty let me know about a free Back To Work Course for mom's who have been on maternity leave. As I was (and still am) job searching this seemed like a no brainer!

The course was two, one day sessions and they offered free creche for the little ones. I felt at ease knowing that Lily was in the room right next door to mine and that I could look in on her at any time. This also gave her some wonderful time to enjoy being with other children and gave me a tester of what she would be like in nursery. So far so good! I could hear her enjoying herself, which means I could enjoy myself. It was lovely to sit in a room with other moms in similar situations. And I won't deny that it felt like a break, enjoying a few sneaky child free hours ;)The course was very insightful, giving us CV and interview tips. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have since put those tips to use.

The children's centre is always offering free learning courses for family. I also did an Introductory to Child Psychology course. Once again, this was so interesting and wonderful to be a part of it. I never knew there were these resources available to parents before. I certainly never came across such support when we lived in London! I was either oblivious to the help at hand or it was never pointed out to me or the children's centre's just don't offer the same kind of help. I am so happy to have this all available to me. The staff who work there are amazing and they go above and beyond what is needed of them. The organiser of the volunteer course has even arranged transport to and from the venue as it's in the next town (as the centre there is bigger).

So when I asked if I would like to join the volunteer course my original answer was no. But when speaking to the organiser the following week I realized that yes, it's something that I could actually enjoy. Firstly, while I am looking for a job I have free time so why not put it to good use? The pros of doing this course were too many to turn it down. I will be learning and some of the sections in the course is accredited. I will have something extra to put on my CV. It will look good to current employers. Lily is able to attend the free creche and as she loves being around children she will have so much fun. She will be stimulated and be in new surrounding's with so much learning and fun at her disposal. And selfishly, mommy gets a few hours break for the next couple of weeks and can enjoy some adult time too. I thought it's good for me to step out of my comfort zone, try new thing's and say yes to new experience's. Just listening to some of the stories today about previous volunteers was inspiring - I never know where this might lead me. And if it leads me nowhere, Lily and I have still only gained from this experience.

And then, I have always wanted to volunteer and to give something back but I just never knew if I had anything valuable to offer. Sounds silly I know but it's true. So now I have this amazing opportunity to learn volunteer training which I can put to use anywhere.

And I find it so exciting!

S.