I just under two weeks I will be returning to work. This is not the way we had planned things. Our plan had been for me to take 12 months maternity leave, then resign so I could stay at home to look after the boys and complete my uni degree. Given that Thunder Maker's job doesn't pay very well, it was probably always a bit of a pipe dream. In saying that, he had a job he was happy in and while he was happy, I was prepared to do without a lot of things to keep him happy.
About four months ago, the organisation that Thunder Maker works for merged with a larger organisation. It effectively became a takeover and the poo hit the fan very quickly. I'm not going to go into all that was wrong, because that would fill up quite a few blog entries that would be better written by Thunder Maker. Suffice to say that the beginning of the end happened when they changed his working location from our home town to one nearly an hour away. This is costing us 15% of his total fortnightly income.
Thunder Maker has spent quite a while looking for a new job, but nothing has presented itself. Thunder Maker is very picky when it comes to applying for jobs, but even when I looked at job ads for him, I just couldn't find anything that fits his skill set. We were starting to get pretty desperate.
Nearly two weeks ago, I got a phone call from my career manager. I knew I was due for a posting next year. I've actually been due for a posting for the last three years, but have managed to drag out my time in our current location by having babies/going on maternity leave. This was the main reason I had planned to resign. We both really like our current location and neither of us really wanted to leave.
My career manager offered me the posting I have always wanted. It's really close to my Dad, my extended family on both sides (my Mum is originally from that area as well, but moved away after her and Dad divorced) and is only a couple of hours away from Thunder Maker's family.
In light of the fact that we decided to accept the posting, it made more sense for me to finish my maternity leave early so that Thunder Maker could resign and become the stay at home parent for the rest of the year. After all, my job pays more than his.
I thought I'd be sad at not getting to spend as long at home with Wombat as I did with Seagull, and even when I did return to work after having Seagull, I went back part time for the first six months. Yes, a part of me is sad, but mainly I'm excited. I think knowing that Thunder Maker is going to be at home with the boys makes it a lot easier.
Now, I've toyed about whether I should reveal a particular something about myself for a while. It is one of the reasons I chose to blog anonymously. To be honest though, I don't think I can blog about my current situation without revealing it and blogging is helping me to get my head around the massive life changes we have decided on.
If you haven't figured it out from some of the language I've used in some of my posts recently, this one in particular, I am a serving member of the ADF. The RAAF, to be precise.
I really love my job, but thought for ages that it would be better for my family if I got out so that they could have locational stability. To be honest though, I've always been a lot more pragmatic than Thunder Maker (he is the dreamer). He is the one looking for the perfect everything, whereas I'm more concerned with keeping a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food in our bellies.
At the moment, it makes a lot more sense for me to stick with a job I love that pays well in order to ensure my family is provided for. It's going to be really sad to leave the house we bought four years ago and have brought two newborn babies home to, but I'm feeling really positive about the future.
3 comments:
How funny - I'm just watching a TV segment on stay at home dads. I think they love it and it will be great for all the boys to hang out together.
Now to be nosy - Are you a pilot? I'd rather do that than stay at home changing nappies LOL.
I think your new future sounds great and especially since your little ones are both boys, they'll have such a great experience spending lots of time with their dad - boys so need their dads I think! And I think lots of dads wouldn't be prepared to be SAHDs so that's fantastic. I bet it'll all work out perfectly :-)
Yeah, the boys both really enjoy spending time with their Dad. Even though Wombat is only just 9 months old, his "Dadda" is his world. He sits on the floor bumping up and down, waiting to be picked up the instant Thunder Maker walks through the door when he gets home from work at the moment. I think Thunder Maker would love to be a SAHD permanantly, but I'm not sure that is going to be an option once we move. Still, he's really looking forward to the time he is going to have at home for the next few months.
@Alex - No, I'm not a pilot, I'm a techo. Still, I'd rather be working than changing dirty nappies, as much as I'm going to miss the time with my boys. Actually, what I am going to enjoy a break from is Seagull's seemingly never-ending whining and tantrums.
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