Sophie is married, lives in and has 3 boys aged 12, 8 and 2 years old (secondary, primary and day care). She works three days a week, two days being a full-time mum and the weekends running around with children’s sports and activities.
Q. What does a regular day look like for you?
A. I rise at 5am every day, do the laundry and lunches and prepare everyones ‘stuff’ for the day ahead. Dressed and ready by 7am, I drop the baby at day care, my husband drops the 8 year old at a friends house and the 12 year old makes his own way to school. Evenings are a short sharp burst of family activity, homework, dinner, TV and bed. I am usually asleep not long after the kids.
Q. And what about your work life?
A. I work 3.5 days a week as the Project Design manager for the Pacific Fair Redevelopment project on the Gold Coast. Working for the owners development team, this is a role that is dynamic, varied and something I love. I have a background in Luxury Retail and Shopping Centre Developments. In the endless struggle to balance home, work and sanity I work on a project basis, committing to one project at a time and taking a chunk of time to be at home in between.
Q. Do you feel as though you have balance?
My annoying internal voice is always creating a ‘to do list’, worrying about getting things completed and being in control; of work, of house, of kids and even the dog, filling my time with jobs and busyness in a never ending bustle of activity.
Q. Amongst all the busyness, do you find time for yourself?
A. I do make sure I do things that are ‘for me’. I have a sacred hour on Sunday mornings to play tennis with an old friend, I snatch 45 minutes on Monday mornings to swim in isolation and I have a coffee catch up with friends on Friday mornings.
Q. What do you wish for more of?
A. My desire is to be able to shut that internal voice down, be quiet and ‘just be’, especially with the kids. I would like to enjoy them, and all the others things in our life more, without having to ‘run’ them in an organisational way.
Q. Do you have any help around the house, or outsource any tasks?
A. Yes, we have a cleaner once a fortnight to the bathrooms, floor and windows. This came about early in our marriage when the one recurrent point of contention in our domestic routine was ‘who was going to clean the bathroom’ – I couldn’t see how my husband could desire a ranting wife wearing rubber gloves and threatening him with a toilet brush much less than I could love a man who wouldn’t keep the bathroom clean – so rather than have a life long festering relationship issue we committed to outsourcing that activity. We rely heavily on our baby sitter, a lovely local uni student who picks up the two youngest after school care 3 days a week. And a local young man who mows the lawn. We are also fortunate that my in-laws often babysit for us – this is great for us all as we get time out and the kids get time with grandparents!
Q. What next big exciting event is on your ‘list’?
A. The BIG one is a planned trip to the Inca trail in September 2016. The internal list maker in me is already worried about the physical training program I’m going to have to undertake to complete the trek!
Q. What are three things you can’t live without?
A. Family, coffee, wine.