Run it up the flagppole, see if it flies

First of all I just want to say a big thank you to Janmary, Steph at Problem Solvin Mom, and Annie Jones for their comments, kind words and hugs on this post.

One thing that has really surprised me since starting this blog (of sorts) is how much it actually matters and helps that someone, either close to home or on the other side of the world will take the time out of their day, and lets be honest, they're pretty busy days, to stop by to tell you "D'ya know, it'll be alright. You'll figure something out".

I had begun to think I was getting myself in a flap over nothing, obviously I'm the only woman struggling to keep her daughter in good, registered daycare instead of leaving her with just anyone, but it seems none of the other moms dropping their kids off in the morning have batted so much as an eyelid.

I don't imagine I'm the only one in financial diffs as the minute. I was starting to think that asking for an extra £50 a week was nothing, I'm just getting my knickers in a twist. But now people agree with me (not just my mommy, that's her job), it is a large increase and I do have something to worry about and a lot of things to think about.

Perhaps all those other moms are secretly having a fit and I just need to practice my "brace face".

I've wracked my brains all weekend and I've eaten a hell of a lot of chocolate.

Incidentally, can anyone explain to my why when I eat a 57g bar of Galaxy I gain 3lbs. Mystery?

Anyway, brains well and truly wracked and I think I've come up with a solution.

When I spoke to my Office Manager on Friday about this (completely in confidence, she's absolutely lovely, trust I've worked for some completely hateful people over the years), she asked if there was any possibility of me working from home.

Just like that, almost like "it's completely up to you, whatever suits sweetie".

Well, after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I quickly said that I didn't think I could. A lot of my work requires me to be in the office at my desk. Most of it is prep work for court dates, preparing court documents, that kind of thing. Well it turns out I think I may have answered a little too quickly.

You see a lot of that stuff is quite, well, it's boring, so I imagined that I was spending more time on it than I actually was, in truth these things probably amount to around a third of my day. I spent the weekend making lists of absolutely everything I do and *eureka and happy days* at least half of it on an average week I could quite easily do at home.

I work in a very up to date office. All dictations and instructions are digital and most correspondence and documentation leaves the office in email format, so I can actually work online anywhere as though I'm sitting at my own desk.

So now the plan is to work at home two days a week, a Monday and a Wednesday, that way my fee earner doesn't have to do without my presence for more than a day. I'll stay at home on Monday because the woman who works part time is in on a Monday so there'll be a fuller quota of people in the building and a Wednesday because most of the stuff I do that I need to be in the office for is in preparation for the following week so it makes more sense to be there for a block of two days at the end of the week.

This means that I can reduce Toot's hours in daycare to three full days, thereby reducing the cost from £170.00 per week to £105.00

Now all I have to do is sell it to the boss. Hah, small pastry items, easy peasy.

Or does this just sound like a brilliant idea in my own head, because I'm....you know......still freaking out.

Let me know, please, is it actually possible to work at home with small children around?

I've tried the timer trick when I'm busy around the house, of setting a timer for 20 minutes and once the buzzer goes, she gets 20 minutes to talk non-stop and so on and so forth, she kind of gets the idea, but it's a definite learning curve.