What constitutes a fun two hours for me in the afternoon when I am not working and DH is away at work? Talking to people. It can be friends, aquaintances, colleagues, strangers - doesn't matter who it is. I love to talk and to listen to people. Which is what I did yesterday afternoon - like many other afternoons.
Sunshine's erstwhile daycare group decided to have an impromptu get together at a neighbourhood playground as the weather was good yesterday. Most of the group turned up and after some fussing by the moms, the kids settled down leaving us moms to chat endlessly about something or the other. My favourite mom from is group is P who is one of the warmest and friendliest people I have met. I am pretty sure she is the most cheerful German I have ever come across. (I have nothing against Germans. I like most things about them, but they could smile a little bit more, methinks). A mom had brought coffee and cookies for all of us and some others brought fruits, crackers etc. P baked some Quarkstüdel for us which left me with the only one who turned up empty handed. I do have a knack of getting things wrong whether big or small.
Since most of the kids in the group were turning 3 sooner than later - kindergarten age in Germany, the major part of conversation was about getting back to work. I had gone back to work part time when Sunshine was 15 months. Another mom was also back at work since her kid was 1. But the rest of the group had been out of work for a long time - many of them as long as 6 years. In Germany, you are allowed to take parenting time of 3 years per kid. So those with 2 kids have been on parenting time for several years. They were discussing the difficulties of getting back to work after such a long time, the prejudices that women have to face, the scarcity of part time jobs etc. Which set me thinking about my own job.
It was not all that difficult for me to get back to work as I was away only for 16 months or so. Everything came back within a short time and I didn't find it difficult to learn new things. The only impediment was that Sunshine used to fall sick very often in the beginning and he had only a 3 day place at the daycare. But I managed somehow as I was working only 45% and my manager was very accomodating and DH supported me beyond belief. Now, sunshine has a 5 day place at the daycare and it is a lot more relaxed for me. Still ever since I started working again after Sunshine was born, I have wondered several times if it is worth the effort at all. My salary was never something to brag about to begin with, I am taxed at the highest rate since I am the second earning member of the family and after Sunshine's daycare expenses, my travel and food expenses etc, I really was not left with anything much. Like most places in the world, working part time, your career is not going anywhere. You can pretty much expect to stagnate in terms of salary, bonuses and position as long as you are working part time. The worst part of it all is guilt - many mornings Sunshine wails because he doesn't want to get dressed or doesn't want to go to his daycare or he doesn't want me to go to office. He would rather be with me at home all day. Yet, when I listened to my friends and their travails yesterday, I realized that I had it good despite all the apparent disadvantages. I atleast had a job which is hopefully helping me build up skills to accelerate my career at some point in the future when Sunshine is more independent and doesn't require so much of my time.
Sunshine's erstwhile daycare group decided to have an impromptu get together at a neighbourhood playground as the weather was good yesterday. Most of the group turned up and after some fussing by the moms, the kids settled down leaving us moms to chat endlessly about something or the other. My favourite mom from is group is P who is one of the warmest and friendliest people I have met. I am pretty sure she is the most cheerful German I have ever come across. (I have nothing against Germans. I like most things about them, but they could smile a little bit more, methinks). A mom had brought coffee and cookies for all of us and some others brought fruits, crackers etc. P baked some Quarkstüdel for us which left me with the only one who turned up empty handed. I do have a knack of getting things wrong whether big or small.
Since most of the kids in the group were turning 3 sooner than later - kindergarten age in Germany, the major part of conversation was about getting back to work. I had gone back to work part time when Sunshine was 15 months. Another mom was also back at work since her kid was 1. But the rest of the group had been out of work for a long time - many of them as long as 6 years. In Germany, you are allowed to take parenting time of 3 years per kid. So those with 2 kids have been on parenting time for several years. They were discussing the difficulties of getting back to work after such a long time, the prejudices that women have to face, the scarcity of part time jobs etc. Which set me thinking about my own job.
It was not all that difficult for me to get back to work as I was away only for 16 months or so. Everything came back within a short time and I didn't find it difficult to learn new things. The only impediment was that Sunshine used to fall sick very often in the beginning and he had only a 3 day place at the daycare. But I managed somehow as I was working only 45% and my manager was very accomodating and DH supported me beyond belief. Now, sunshine has a 5 day place at the daycare and it is a lot more relaxed for me. Still ever since I started working again after Sunshine was born, I have wondered several times if it is worth the effort at all. My salary was never something to brag about to begin with, I am taxed at the highest rate since I am the second earning member of the family and after Sunshine's daycare expenses, my travel and food expenses etc, I really was not left with anything much. Like most places in the world, working part time, your career is not going anywhere. You can pretty much expect to stagnate in terms of salary, bonuses and position as long as you are working part time. The worst part of it all is guilt - many mornings Sunshine wails because he doesn't want to get dressed or doesn't want to go to his daycare or he doesn't want me to go to office. He would rather be with me at home all day. Yet, when I listened to my friends and their travails yesterday, I realized that I had it good despite all the apparent disadvantages. I atleast had a job which is hopefully helping me build up skills to accelerate my career at some point in the future when Sunshine is more independent and doesn't require so much of my time.
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