Work/Family Life Balance... A Tug-of-War?

Maia has jetlag of quite spectacular tenacity and persistance. She cannot/will not go to sleep much before 10.30/11pm. To make matters worse, the central heating is bust so she is sleeping in my bed. Last night she woke up a couple times, and come 8.30 this morning I was somewhat reluctant to get out of bed.

Noonah to the rescue! Maia was coaxed out of bed with the promise of stars in her porridge (don't ask) and, once there, she happily tucked in. Then the phone rang. As it was by now 9 am, Noonah answered the phone as if it were a work call, which it was.

A particularly effusive German man that she works with called Wolfgang was on the phone hoping to discuss a thorny problem he had discovered with his database. Wolfgang tends to spend a great deal of time on the phone, and 10 minutes into the conversation, Maia was bored.

So she decided it was time for a pee. Still on the phone, Noonah instructed Maia to fetch the potty and do it All By Herself, like a Big Girl. This tactic worked very well, with Maia duly fetching the potty, taking her trousers down, having a pee, cleaning, pulling her trousers up. Mission accomplished, and Wolfgang was none the wiser.

However, then it was time to dispose of the pee. Maia knew that pee was to be flushed down the toilet, and was somewhat put out that Noonah was trying to prevent her from carrying a rather full potty across the room to the toilet. She pulled the potty. Noonah pulled the potty. Wolfgang chatted on. Fearing a rather damp conclusion to this drama, Noonah hit the mute button and explained that carrying pee was a Grown-Up job. Maia was not convinced.

Stand off.

After a good while and promises made to Wolfgang if he would just get off the phone, the call finally cane to an end. The potty was carried, by both Noonah and Maia, to the loo and the contents flushed.

Working from home has a certain rosy image in the corporate world of offices and boardrooms, but the reality can be far from glamorous.