A Decision Made

Thunder Maker and I have spent a lot of time talking about our options since I received that phone call on Friday.

To be honest, I was pretty keen to accept the offer straight up. I knew that it was not a decision I could make on my own though. I knew that it was going to take a lot of talking to convince Thunder Maker to go. Surprisingly, right from when I mentioned it, he was a lot more open to it than I was expecting.

We went out for a lovely dinner tonight at the bistro of one of the local pubs and talked it over some more while Seagull was tearing around in the play area. To my surprise, Thunder Maker said that yes, he is happy for us to go. He just wanted to be sure that it was what I really wanted. As he said, what he is doing is fast coming to an end, he is 12 years older than me, so he has already had a chance to pursue different career paths. Now he wants to give me the chance to pursue mine.

In then end, it was a much easier decision for us both to make than I had initially anticipated. I think that one of the major deciding factors for Thunder Maker is that we will only be a couple of hours away from his Mum. It actually works out quite well, because we are close enough to be able to go and visit for the day or a weekend, but far enough away that we won't be in each others pockets. My MIL is a wonderful person who has helped us out in so many ways that I will be eternally grateful for, but she is best handled in small doses that are spaced apart. And those are words that have come directly from Thunder Maker.

It is going to be fantastic that the boys are going to be able to spend time with their grandparents and be able to develop a real relationship with them. It's going to be great that for the first time in 24 years, I'm going to be living right near my Dad. We have always had a good relationship, in spite of the distance of our respective living arrangements, but I've always wanted to be able to just drop over for a beer and a chat. Dad only has daughters, and is quite happy with that, but he loves that he now has grandsons and I'm thrilled that he is now going to be able to spend time with them regularly. Dad is really into cars and all sorts of other traditional blokey things that Thunder Maker isn't into, so I'm really pleased that the boys are going to have someone around to be able to talk to about those sorts of things.

We have decided that Thunder Maker will hand in his notice at work and become the stay at home parent. I'm in the process of organising to go back to work early. The people at work that I've spoken to are pleased that I've changed my mind and decided to stay. I'm really looking forward to putting on my uniform again and being known as me, rather than someone's mother for eight hours a day.