A-Z Challenge - Q is for......

Questions and Quality time

Initially this post was meant to be about Quality time but having logged onto blogger this morning I have Questions also

What the hell has happened to blogger? I don't particularly like change!

Is this meant to make blogging easier? I haven't got a flipping clue now where everything is.

To be honest I don't think I like it, why can't they leave things be? 

I am a very much 'if it ain't broke, don;t fix it' kind of girl.

I know I will get use to it but hey a girl is allowed a moan every now and again.

So second Q - Quality time with my family

What does this mean? To me, it means spending uninterrupted time with them, doing fun things or just enjoying each others company.

Since working for myself and from home, I feel my amount of quality time with the boys has actually decreased from when I was working in an office full time. Odd I know seeing as though I do 90% of school runs now.

Working full time in an office - I did the morning school run twice a week and loved it - Tuesday and Friday's were mornings to look forward to, I would often drive my car to school the night before, run home so we could walk together in the morning, often collecting leaves and conkers in the Autumn or stones and sticks the boys found interesting. My car would then be waiting so I could get into work on time. 3 mornings a week t'hubby would take the boys and he loved that. Now he is out of the door and gone to work by 8am.

Once a week I had an early day and picked up from school. Without fail we would walk home via the canal or playground or pop to town and have a coffee and juice together. Now we walk to school and home again, every day, there is nothing special about it.

Holidays were also more special, each week t'hubby and I would alternate taking either 2 days and 1 day off work so the kids were only at the childminder 2 days a week, or Grannie and Grandad would come down and stay. The days we had off we would be out and about making the most of it. Now the days drift by as there is always tomorrow to do something. I am at home so t'hubby doesn't get his time off with the boys. Visits to Grannie and Grandad are a popping for a quick cuppa now they are down the road. Things have changed.

It a shame, obviously there are many plus sides to all this but I do sometimes think when we lived 200 miles away the boys got more 'quality' time with their grandparents (although they both say the best thing about moving is seeing Grannie and Grandad whenever they want) and working full time was better. Rose tinted glasses possibly?

Easter holidays we tried to change this, to recapture some of that time. I turned the computer off, put my out of office on and we went out - museums, train rides, swimming, parks, woods. We sat down one Saturday with sweets and popcorn as a family and watched a film. We went away. It was bliss.

It made me realise how easy it is to take time for granted but not actually appreciate it.