Here I am sitting on the grass in a park, with my headphones on listening to Angus and Julia Stone. It’s a beautiful sunny day. There’s a light breeze. There are big white fluffy clouds in the sky and my soul is calm.


Today is my first “work” day away from home since I had my eldest child four years ago. I’ve worked here and there over the past few years, in between babies and newborns, but always from home. Generally, I’ve worked at night or early mornings. Sometimes, I work when the children have a sleep or are plonked in front of the television. There”s times I”ve had no choice but to work while the kids have been running around me or pulling at my arm screaming, while I quickly finish a phone call. I”ve been known to breastfeed with a phone pressed to my ear or make a bottle and feed a toddler all with one arm, while also shoving biscuits into the hand of another child. One time when trying to line up an important interview for a magazine article I was writing, one of my children came into the office shouting: “I”ve got poo on my hands”. В And she did. I was mortified at the time, but now I laugh when thinking about it. Working from home is a juggle, but at least you can do it in your pajamas.

This morning I left the house with my laptop. Kissed my children and husband good bye and left for the day. “Have fun at work,” the girls yelled out. “I love you”, my husband whispered as he kissed me.
I’m calling it work, but today I’m not getting paid to do anything, but I’m calling it work so the girls think I’m working. So they understand that both men and women work, not just Daddy. Today I’m doing my own thing. Next week, I’ll start working on more effectively marketing our business. Next week, I might have some other paid work, but this week I have a whole day to write.

It feels so wonderful to just sit on the grass, quietly listening to music, tapping away on my computer. Tapping away to the beat of the music. Lost in my own mind. Quiet in my own thoughts, with no-one asking for things. No plans, nowhere to be. Just me.

It’s quite strange having no restrictions, having personal freedom. The day drags on, but in a nice way. I start it by meeting a friend for a coffee and at the end of my day I drive to the beach and I sit on a chair looking out at the waves. These waves.





It’s amazing what you can do in a day when you don’t have to also worry about three little people. And I only call home once to check out how my husband”s coping and even then I call because I want to tell him about this amazing beef and horseradish roll I’d just eaten. I can hear his smile through the phone. He can hear my smile through the phone. He knows when I come skipping through the door tonight, all light headed and relaxed, scooping the children up into my arms, that I’ll be a happier me. It’s amazing what a day does to revitalise someone.


There’s a breeze blowing, the sun is shining, the music is quietly playing in my headphones. I am tapping away on my computer. My soul is quiet.В