Shambolic Living

Working Options

Janine — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:24:48 +0000

It’s been over seven years since I was last a stay-at-home Mum. When you are chained to an office, knee-deep in work deadlines and fighting off texts from your children about the latest crisis – there’s no food in the house – I missed the bus – I forgot my art project – you tend...

Woman and Choices

Janine — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:11:58 +0000

The whole “can women have it all” debate is up and running again. Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, stated in an interview this weekend that women can’t have it all. “I’m in the Anne-Marie Slaughter school – women can’t have it all. They can have plenty of choices, but at the end of...

Letter to Marissa Mayer

Janine — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:40:27 +0000

Dear Marissa, Congratulations on your new job as CEO of Yahoo. I know it was a real coup securing the job when you were six months pregnant and it is fantastic that Yahoo were willing to see past the baby bump and value the talent and skill of the woman. I want to jump...

Working Life

Janine — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:19:00 +0000

As usual my disorganised approach to life has come back to bite me in the bum. HUGE day yesterday with a 7.45am meeting with the Principal of the High School where Princess Child will be going next year. The child is a little anxious about the idea of going to high school so I reassure...

Work or Stay at Home An Old and Ugly Debate

Janine — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:48:08 +0000

The age-old debate of whether to work or stay at home has reared its ugly head again thanks to American politics. Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, commented that Anne Romney, wife of a GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was not in a position to give her husband economic advice on the plight of women because...

Dads at Home

Janine — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:45:38 +0000

It seems we’ve come a long way in a single generation. Dads now play a much bigger role in their children’s day-to-day lives than they did a few decades ago. Yet it is still unusual for men to accept the role of fulltime stay-at-home parent. Research carried out in 2010 by the Australian Institute of...

Take The Kids To Work Day

Janine — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:51:57 +0000

Once upon a time my children and I lived a completely intertwined life. I worked from home and they saw first hand exactly what “mummy’s job” involved. As they grew older and went off to school we still kept close, I was at the school doing maths groups and reading time. Our lives were glued...

Why Blog?

Janine — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:08:19 +0000

Someone asked me the other day why you would bother to start a blog? It is a bit of a silly idea really, devoting time and energy to writing thousands and thousands of words which may, or may not, be read by others. There’s no money in it, unless you manage to get yourself to...

I Don’t Meet Your Selection Criteria Because I’ve Been Busy Having A Life

Janine — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:24:54 +0000

Returning to the workforce after a ten year absence was an eye-opener. Technology had moved above and beyond anything a mere mortal could have imagined back in 1997. The internet was in constant use in every office in the country, “I’ll google it” a common refrain. How did we ever create radio programs without the...