SPRING

I've waited many years to pick flowers from my own garden, and today I finally did - sunny daffodils. The spring flower. 

I remember walking to school as a little girl, my friend and I would always pick daffodils and sweet peas from the fields. I have always loved yellow flowers. They just scream HAPPY:) 

S.

WHAT SLEEP?

I have had two years to compare the data and I've come up with the following result:

Going through labor and giving birth is way easier than being kept awake every night, and every day. Basically not sleeping. At all.

EMPLOY ME

So I am still searching for a job. Or I guess the correct term is - I am still waiting to be employed. Now I know that job searching takes time. You'll send your CV off to a few places and even have some interviews before you secure a job. Ok, sometimes you can get lucky and land a job off your first try. But I've been waiting over six months already! Come on! 

And it's got me thinking: Are companies reluctant to hire women who have stayed home to look after children??

At the end of this month I will officially have been a stay at home mother for two years. This was never part of the plan, but we'll talk about that another time. I don't even like the term - stay at home mother. It makes it sound like I'm a mother who chooses to stay home because I have nothing better to do. Yes I did make the choice to stay home. As did thousands of other mothers. But it's not because we have nothing better to do. 

So back to my point. Why am I not being hired?? I have a good CV with a range of work experience and skills up my sleeve. I have done IT Support Assistance, Accounts Admin Assistance, Maintenance Admin, Front of House, Call Centre and Waitressing to name a few. So surely out of all the jobs that I'm applying for there has to be something I can offer the potential employer? No, I KNOW that I have a lot to offer a potential employer. 

This leads me to believe that a two year gap in my working history and the fact that I stay at home to look after Lily is putting people off. I have had this conversation briefly with other mothers and a few have confirmed that it took them awhile to get back into employment after looking after their little ones.

But why is this? Are we seen as lazy for not having worked for a long time? Are we seen as a potential disruption to the company if our child is sick or has an emergency? Or is it just down to the luck of the draw? 

I do know that previously it has never taken this long to find a job. This is the longest it has ever taken. And I know the right job is out there. But I hope that it's got nothing to do with the fact that I stay home to look after my daughter.

S.