JENN THOMAS

There’s also been days when my guilt buckets overflowed

I have always believed in having a life of balance. I am a homebody at heart and my ultimate happy place is rugged up in bed with a book and a cup of tea …or a glass of red. So when COVID-19 hit I felt ready to embrace the change and find a new kind of balance.

The first few weeks seemed manageable – extra time helping my 11 year old with her school work, building lego and puzzles with my three year old and working side-by-side with my husband. How could I not enjoy it? But as the days turned into weeks, I started to feel like I was Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. I found my routine shifted from a rhythm of ‘eat work sleep repeat’, to something more like ‘hopefully I can sleep, hopefully I’ll eat when I can, and then I’ll help (family member) with (something), clean (anything); and then repeat it all - relentlessly. On those days I’ve found I’ve had to escape - heading out the door yelling ‘need to go to Woolies’, exiting before anyone could stop me. And there’s also been days when my guilt buckets overflowed – questioning if I am being the best worker, mum, wife or friend I can be?

But I’ve also had weeks where I feel like I was kicking goals. Days when I’ve Zoom’d with my colleagues in the morning, had a cracking day delivering strong work with our members and the broader industry. And I’m filled with gratitude for the gift of time and the extra moments with my family. We’ve had fun and I have a phone filled with family memories capturing the fun. I think I know each of them so much better and in turn know myself even better.

So maybe this new normal is still a life of balance with the things that are important to me – kids, work, husband and friends.

JENN THOMAS

HEAD OF MEMBERSHIP AT IAB