I accidentally took a little blogging break through December. To be honest, the month passed me by a little and was a somewhat sleep deprived blur. My wee lassie had the dreaded molars emerging and they stole all her sleep – not very festive of them at all. Whilst this still continues, it is getting a little better and I feel like I am slowly emerging from a deep dark hibernation, blinking into the sunshine of 2013.
This year has got off to busy start, with the launch of my first big film project working with Equal Voices. So far, it’s going great and it’s brilliant to be working with such a talented team.
Over the last few months my freelance work (copywriting and project management) has been building up well, which is exciting and also a relief! It’s quite daunting coming back into the world of work after maternity leave, and especially coming back as a new freelancer.
Whilst I was off I saw so many tweets, articles and opinions flying around about working mums, full time mums, part time working mums, whether each option is valid, whether it just isn’t good enough or whether it is actually anti-feminist. So many opinions telling women what they should or shouldn’t do. Each article made me angry in one way or another. None of them seemed supportive and none of them depicted how complex it can be. Each person’s situation is so individual. The majority of parents do what they can, when they can, to make things work for their child and their circumstances. I would certainly never make a decision about Emilia’s life based on whether it would be considered “feminist” enough. Ridiculous.
On the flip side to this, I was lucky enough to meet a great group of mums through my post natal group. We are all quite different to each other, and are approaching this new experience in different ways. What has surprised me, and what I don’t think I could have done without, is the incredible support all of us have received from each other. It’s been just amazing. (The dreaded cuts are putting this post natal group in jeopardy for new mums. I really hope it manages to continue – it was so vital for all of us and I hope others can receive this huge support.)
So, with all of the meandering I’ve done through this blog post, my main message is that I am finally ready to tackle the new year and I have great hopes for 2013!