1.What do you do and what kind of hours do you work?

I work fulltime, doing statistics for Social Work Services.  My remit is for Children and Families performance information.  I am lucky in that I do not have a frontline job, and I can work flexible working hours with no core hours.

2. What’s a typical day like for you? 

I’m awake at 6,15am, when the alarm goes off for Hubby, who works in construction.  However, he doesn’t actually get up for another fifteen minutes.  I get up and showered at 7.15am, after Hubby is dressed.  Once, I’m dressed, I go through to the girls’ room to wake them up around 7.40ish.  We have a wee cuddle and a chat for five minutes.  They take it in turns to have a quick shower (with my help) and then get dressed (after me nagging them to hurry up several times!), before heading downstairs for breakfast.  I usually have to nag them to eat up several times!  We leave the house in a rush at 8.45am.

I prefer to walk the girls to school but, sometimes we have to jump into the car if we’re running late or the weather is awful.  The school bell goes at 9am, and then I head off to work, after waving to the girls as the go into the school building.  I arrive at work around 9.15am, as it’s only a short distance from the school.

I spend most of my time at work in my office, which I share with three others, staring at spreadsheets or databases, and I break the monotony with cups of coffee or Red Bush tea.  My job can get pretty stressful, especially over the summer months, when I have lots of important deadlines in the space of a few months.  Sometimes I have to go to meetings in other offices, which usually involves travelling by car.  I normally only take half an hour for my lunch, which I eat at my desk.  (We have a tiny kitchen with a microwave, fridge and toaster.)   I try to pop outside at lunchtime, to go to the shops or just for a walk.  On nice sunny days, I sometimes take a longer lunch break to allow me to go for a longer walk.

On my way home from work, I usually pop into the supermarket to pick up a few groceries, before picking up the girls from after school care.  However, sometimes I can get held up at work, which means I literally fly out the door with just five minutes to collect the girls!

Once we’re home, I have to prepare dinner, while supervising the girls’ homework.  After dinner, providing the girls do not have Rainbows or dance class, they can play or watch TV for a short while before getting ready for bed.  Once ready for bed, we read a story together (sometimes their school reading book), and then at 8 o’clock (or 8.30pm on the night of their dance class) it is time for bed.

Once the girls are in bed, I spend half an hour tidying up while Hubby makes us a cup of tea.  I then spend one or two hours (sometimes longer) on my computer, writing, blogging, blog-hopping or social networking.

We go to bed about 11ish.