Back in March I waved goodbye to my colleagues, desk and office as I left to begin working from home full-time until my maternity leave started. A couple of months flew by and it was time for the obligatory trip to the office to introduce the new human I had produced. The majority of parents have what I call a second job. The place we go to earn money so that we can financially support our main vocation: raising our children. As is the case with many parents, I work full time on my second job, 9-5:30 Monday – Friday. This means I spend more waking hours with my colleagues than I do with my family so my second job has to be something:
- I really enjoy doing
- That pays enough to cover childcare costs
- Where I’m working with people I like spending time with
I am happy to say that my second job ticks all 3 of these boxes. I couldn’t wait to bring my new baby in each time I’ve been on maternity leave. At 6 weeks old each of them has been packed up into the pushchair, boarded a train and headed into London for lunch with the boss and a parade around the office.
Last week baby number 3 had her turn and it ended up being an excellent walking tour of Central London.
Stage 1: London Victoria Station > Buckingham Palace > Mayfair > Oxford Circus (30-40 mins)
First off I made the rookie mistake of alighting the train at Victoria at 1045 and thinking “Hmmm I don’t have to be at the office until 1130; I know what would be a good idea: let’s walk through Green Park and Mayfair to the office…”
Anyone who has lived and worked in London as long as I have should have known better. I still think of myself as a Londoner even though it has been SIX YEARS since we moved to Surrey and the joys of home ownership. For those of you that don’t know, at 11am pretty much everyday at this time of year, the Royal Family put on a visual display of pomp, pageantry and general proof to the world of how many tourists come to London just to try to catch a glimpse of them. This is also known as the Changing of the Guard and hundreds of people come to watch it for 45 minutes from 1045 almost everyday.
They also block the pavement to the annoyance of normal Londoners trying to go about their business. I scolded myself when I realised my faux pas. I put on my best Londoner scowl and got ready to use the pushchair as a magic staff/battering ram, parting the sea of tourists and bee-lining through the crowd. That was until on Buckingham Palace Road, right outside the Palace side entrance for the tours/gallery, I was tapped on the shoulder by a Japanese family asking where they could find Buckingham Palace using their very best Google Translate english.
Awwww!
You see, underneath all the scowling and refusal to make eye contact, I’m one of those Londoners who melts when reminded how great London is and how for many of the people we curse under our breath for walking too slow down Oxford Street, or trying to tap paper tickets on an Oyster reader or standing on the left hand side of an escalator, this is a trip of a lifetime to see the city we live in.
Once I’d communicated that we were in fact already just outside the palace and checked they hadn’t been a pick-pocket diversion (wallet, keys, phone check!), I followed the crowd to the thoroughfare our long-suffering met police officers had carved through the static bystanders, where you aren’t allowed to stand and watch, you have to keep walking. Of course everyone uses this as an opportunity to snap a picture as they walk past the gate so I joined in with the annoying tourists and was yelled at by a police officer to stop taking photos and keep moving (I felt about as naughty as Theresa May running through a field of wheat).
And so on to Mayfair where I’ve spent many a lunch break over the years admiring windows, trying on clothes I can’t afford and occasionally buying something beautiful. By the time I arrived at the office I realised that was the least stressful commute I’d ever had! Normally I do that walk as a brisk bit of exercise before work, ticking off my mental to do list as I go. But this time I’d helped some strangers, had a bit of a laugh and taken in all the shop windows which had all changed in the weeks I’d been away.
The Office
I was only in the office for about 15 minutes. A few new faces and some very familiar ones all took their turn to meet the baby they’d watched grow inside my belly. It’s a surreal experience seeing someone else sitting at my desk. It’s a place I spend so much of my life and feels personal to me yet it can easily be used my someone else with all their things in place of mine. I both miss going to work and am glad I’m not there all at once. Glad someone else is there to cover my job whilst I concentrate on the most important people in my world.
We went for dim sum lunch at Ping Pong, Marlborough Street. Review to follow!
Stage 2: Oxford Circus > Oxford Street (West) > St Christopher’s Place > Selfridges (20-30 mins)
After lunch I had an order to pick up from Kurt Geiger, St Christopher’s Place. I had bought the most fabulous Letty Vegan Trainers online reduced from £99 to £69, free to collect. I walked down Oxford Street, tried on my new trainers, changed them for a smaller size and since I was in the vicinity, had a look round Selfridges. I love Selfridges. More than any of the other department stores. It’s the one that most feels like its own small town. In fact, if there were apartments in Selfridges (3 bedroom duplex with roof garden in case anyone feels the urge to build be one), I would buy one and live there.
Stage 3: Selfridges > Bus to Somerset House > Temple Gardens
If I hadn’t spent so long wondering around looking at expensive clothes that won’t fit me anymore, I could have walked but I was meant to meet a friend so I jumped on the bus from Selfridges to Somerset House to give me a chance to breastfeed on the way. Right by the bus stop on Waterloo Bridge is the west entrance to Somerset House with an outdoor seating area where I sat to finish breastfeeding.
A short walk through Temple Gardens to Jamie’s on Tudor Street, around the corner from where I used to work, is where I met an old friend for a catch up and baby snuggles. We listened to each other’s news about our children and partners, our work and plans for the future. I told her about starting this blog and my reasons for doing so. And then my dear friend summed it up in the perfect way that only she usually knows how:
“Everyone talks about Work/Life Balance. When we are working parents the Life part of that balance is managing the kids, partners and homes. What we really need is Work/Life/ME balance and if you make the time to write your blog every week then you just might get that. And of people want to take the time to read it and can relate to it then you might give that to them too.”
Thanks Birdie – sage wisdom as always…
Stage 4: Temple Gardens > St Paul’s Cathedral > Tate Modern Gallery > Borough Market > London Bridge Station (30-40 mins)
And so I set off on another old commute walking route that takes in some of the best views of the city. Past one of the oldest pubs in London, the Black Friar where I’ve enjoyed many an after work pint. I’d seen it was used in the new Men In Black International movie and I must confess taking in a slightly deeper breath as I walked past this time knowing that Chris Hemsworth had been there!
On to millennium bridge with views North to St Paul’s Cathedral, South to the Tate Modern Gallery, West you catch a glimpse of the rooftops of parliament and East towards the City of London. We continued east along the South Bank to Borough Market where we stopped for a gelato/breastfeeding break at 3BIS on Park Street. If you haven’t tried this Gelato then you must. It’s so good and even sweeter when you’re on your post-gestational diabetes bender!
It was the perfect end to a great day. Baby met some important people in my life, explored London for the first time and as we boarded the train home at London Bridge, I hit my 10,000th step. Happy Days!
