To save on childcare now that I am back at work Andy decided to take two weeks off work and spend some time looking after Sophie. At the end of the fortnight he was viewing going back to work as ‘a rest’ and admitted he had never felt so tired. I think he enjoyed it though, and my friends took him under their wings – he got invited to coffee mornings and two birthday parties. I was definitely jealous thinking about him enjoying himself with my friends whilst I was stuck in the office. After two weeks of him being househusband the house looked like a bomb had hit it, and we had very few clothes to wear as our entire wardrobe seemed to be sitting in the basket waiting to be ironed. When will men learn to multitask?!

Sophie is now at nursery four days a week and after enjoying it initially, the reality has hit her and she now cries as soon as we arrive at the door. It’s very difficult to walk away from her when she has tears streaming down her face and is holding her arms out to picked up and rescued. The staff assure me that she is playing and having fun with the others as soon as I leave, and let’s face it, she’s got to be having more fun than I do at work. The hours in the office feel very long until I rush out at the end of the day to pick her up. Then it seems like we have only been together for two minutes before it’s time to put her to bed. At the moment I very much envy some of my friends who have given up work permanently.