Louisa's blog

Two weeks into the return to work after maternity leave and its been a mixed start. The first few days were good actually, with a busy schedule at the office meaning the time flew by. Baby boy didn’t continue his hunger strike, those of you who read my recent Guardian blog will be pleased to know, and so we reached the first weekend with sanity intact. It went swiftly downhill from there, however, mainly due to a horrible cough & cold that’s working its way round our family. Baby boy got it first, and immediately our usually peaceful nights were interrupted by regular coughing fits and at least one visit by me to re-settle. Then it was toddler girl’s turn, then mine. With my husband on back to back business trips this month (he also works full time in finance), my second week at work proved much more testing. I am not good at coping with tiredness. Tuesday also brought my daughter’s 2nd birthday but after much deliberation, I decided that the 20 minutes I see her on my ‘London’ days wasn’t enough to celebrate it, and so all birthday wishes and presents were postponed until Saturday – the day of her much anticipated Peppa Pig themed party. Fortunately my husband made it back in time, flying back from Geneva late Thursday night, although he was collected directly from the party at ‘home time’ to go back to the airport to spend a week in Dubai. With two busy parents my daughter has a growing understanding of what ‘work’ means – sometimes Daddy goes to work on a plane, sometimes on a train, and Mummy also goes to work on a train but sometimes works at home. To her credit, I think she grasped the latter concept more quickly than some adults I know. So writing this on a quiet Sunday night, sipping my lemsip, its hard to stop worrying about tidying up after our guests, what to do with all the left over cake and sausage rolls and how the thank-you letters are going to get written, and focus on the week ahead. Monday holds my first board meeting and, of course, this week we also have our fantastic Speaker Series event taking place with guest speaker Helena Kennedy QC. So optimism and adrenalin do their work, but I confess to proffering a not-so-silent prayer for a good night’s sleep.