Jenny x
Chair's Letter
Welcome
My husband and I just returned from four days away without our three children. This may sound like the antithesis of family time, but after nearly 8 years with only a very small handful of single nights off parenting I think we deserved it. I am very happy and content being a parent to our children, but I also know that I need time away from the family; time to pursue my own interests, ambitions and friendships. I know my husband feels the same. Over the last few years we've managed to carve out some me-time and generally I feel that we have got a good balance going on in our busy family; although the weekday juggling of school & nursery drop-offs and pick-ups, kids activities, our jobs, running a house, friend and family relationships and of course volunteering, sometimes feels a bit overwhelming and precarious. Like most parents I know, there are times when I feel guilty for doing/ not doing x, y or z but I try not to dwell on this too much, as I just don't have the time! The main thing I feel we are still figuring out is ways for me and my husband to spend a bit more time individually with each of our children; it is a bit of logistical childcare problem.
I definitely live for the weekend, which we have purposefully kept largely free from clubs and regular activities. We have noticed that by the end of the week often all the children want to do is play at home together with their toys; and frankly we're more than happy to potter about the house as well. We embrace the fact that we do not need to be anywhere at a certain time and one or more of us might still be in our pyjamas at lunchtime. I am not one for organising lots of activities to keep the kids busy at the weekend, but we did recently introduce Saturday family film night where the kids choose a film and we all sit down together to watch it with popcorn. This might not be everyone's idea of perfect family time, but it has been a lot of fun discovering/ rediscovering some great children's films and a wonderful opportunity to steal some cuddles with the kids on the sofa.