Change

I work for Queensland Health.

After the State Government's announcement this week that they were cutting 14,000 jobs in the public service, like many of their employees I spent the week on my best behaviour, scrutinising every whisper I saw my boss make and jumping everytime she called my name...for fear I would be pulled into her office where the word 'redundant' would leave her lips and life as I knew it would fall apart. That didn't happen; hasn't happened yet but the thought of it has had me considering what I would do if I lost my job.

I don't like change, especially when things are going splendidly as they are. My job is wonderful, it fits in perfectly with my role as a mother and I know the job like the back of my hand so it is not difficult most of the time. I can go to work, do my time and then come home and focus on raising Roma. Queensland Heath is a wonderful organisation for accomodating women when they return to work following the birth of a child. My boss has allowed me to reduce my hours from full-time to only 2 days per week until Roma is in school, whilst also allowing me to switch to day shifts instead of shift work which would have had me working up until midnight some days.

This flexibility has allowed me to pop Roma into regular family day care which she loves and is thriving in. However more change is expected there soon.

Roma's wonderful, amazing family day carer Lou told me on Thursday that she has decided to resign and it bought me to tears. Roma loves her, I love her and Roma has only just started saying her name 'Lou Lou,' it is so sweet and she really is quite attached to her carer. Lou Lou was perfect for Roma, fully of energy and always stimulating her, encouraging her and providing her with new toys and activities. Now she will be leaving and I am yet to find out who her replacement is.

Thankfully her day care arrangement works slightly differently to the norm and Lou is actually contracted from another woman who oversees the care. So that means for us, Roma still keeps her child care place and will still be cared for in the same home but Lou will move out and someone else will move in. I just hope she is as wonderful as Lou and that Roma bonds to her just as easily. One of the things...let me rephrase that...the biggest thing that makes me happy to go off to work each day is the knowledge that Roma is safe, happy and loved in her daycare home, without that feeling of contentment, I certainly would not be able to do my job as well as I do.

So thank you Lou for being wonderful and for caring for Roma so well, you will be missed. And although I resist, I know I will have to get used to the change