As I write this, I am thinking how boring I sound – am I actually in my thirties? Anyhow, for over a year now I’ve been lucky enough to take advantage of a more flexible working pattern MG offers. I have a 4-year-old son called Oscar whom I wanted to spend more time with.
I start my working day at 8am and power through until 4pm. Whilst we’ve been on lockdown I’ve stuck with those hours as it really works for me and my family. I also have Wednesdays and Thursdays off which has been hugely helpful for childcare reasons during lockdown. My husband is a self-employed plumber so it means he can get out in the evenings on my workdays and during my days off to work himself.
An ultimate life goal for me is to be as organic and self-sufficient as possible when it comes to our fruit and veg consumption. The lockdown has meant we’ve been able to spend loads of time at the allotment, keeping us really fit and busy, and as a result it’s looking amazing. We have so much food growing right now which I cannot wait to harvest. Therefore, once I pack up for the day at 4pm, Oscar and I jump on my bike and cycle over to do lots of watering and collecting any food that’s ready to be picked. It’s pretty early in the season but we’ve already had loads of amazing rhubarb, onions and some strawberries. We then make a mad dash home so I can run around, tidy up the house which usually looks like a bombsite as my messy husband has been in charge for the day and then tend to get Oscar fed, bathed and in bed as quickly as possible to prolong the child-free evenings. I’m usually shattered and super hangry by this point in the day!
My husband then gets home at around 8pm, when we crack on with dinner. As the weather has been amazing, we tend to light the BBQ and get the booze on the go. Turns out he makes a mean Mojito and is also a dab hand at home-brewing Elderflower Champagne which is delicious – all talents I didn’t know he had before lockdown! Once we are fed and watered, we usually stop talking to each other for the night as we binge watch a few episodes of the latest boxset we are watching. Currently, it’s Killing Eve and First Dates Hotel – got to get the balance of love and violence right after all!
Laura Cochrane, Head of Investment Operations