After a reasonably relaxed half term holiday during which I spent lots of quality time with both of my daughters, and not too much time doing housework - what the heck, it's always there to be done again the next day - I returned to work in quite a joyful mood. I should have known not to count my chickens.
Today is my third day back and I am considering committing hari kari. My colleague, a young, childless, career minded girl who is also my senior (though at times I wonder, when she is bouncing advice off me) is desperately trying to make a name for herself in a workplace where there are many changes going on, including a new head. I am also keen to learn more and have a career. However, I am pregnant!
This translates into the fact that I am now rendered completely useless. I use my toil whereas she doesn't - I have children and so it comes in handy when there are holidays which are usually quiet times anyway.
She spends the day stressed out by the amount of work to be done, whereas I sit wondering when she is going to hand some of it over. (This is not for the lack of asking on my part) I am not deemed able to give out useful information because as all of us know, pregnant equals brain dead.
I got home tonight and wondered if it was really worth considering going back to work after my baby is born or if things will have moved on too much for me to be able to cope - in their eyes, not mine. Why is it that the day I decided to add to my family - at my age it will definitely be my last - was the day that I signed a death knell on my career?
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Isn't this where the new employment legislation is supposed to be working. Maternity / paternity rights and ageism. However in small business where staff take time off for families it does cause difficulties - replacement staff need to be trained, this could take time and money and you have to pay for staff leave and pay for replacement staff to carry on doing the work. The argument for employing older people was that they had completed their families and had time on their hands, were more responsible, reliable and still able to work. making new laws seems to be easy but getting employers to implement them seems the hardest part.
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