Going back to work

So i have completed my training and have been  back at work for 5 weeks ,when i say back at work i haven't worked there before its a new job, but its been about 7 year since i have been employed. I have worked in that time but as a self employed travel agent and with my husband in our shop, then since we closed the shop and i had Alex i have been lucky enough to be a stay at home mum. But the time came with number 3 at school and to be honest needing a bit more money coming in, that it was the right time for me to look for a job. Looking for a job and applying for one has completely changed since the last time i had to do that and for the first time i have real sympathy for people looking for work, i heard stories like you do in paper and on TV where people say they have applied for over 100 jobs and never heard anything back, let alone get a job and i always though well they clearly don't want one or aren't trying. But now i see the process has changed so much, gone are they days where you look in the paper see a job call them and have an interview the next week and if you are lucky start the next week. For this job i had to fill in an online application which took me the best part of 4 hours, writing and rewriting my skills and competences to make sure i have included everything i possibly could that would be relevant to the job, after all this was my first contact with them and i needed to make sure  stood out from the crowd. I applied for the job at the end of August and got an interview the beginning of October, i found out i had got the job end of October and started the End of Novemeber, Thats a 3 month process!!

What has been the biggest challenge is childcare, its practically non exsistant! my thoughts were get a job first,because lets face it childcare isn't cheap and we couldn't afford it till i knew i had a job, so i got the job and had 4 weeks to get it in place. Alex was easy we put him straight into nursery at the same on all the other went to but they now own several and there is one nearer to us so he went there, for a couple of morning at first in the weeks before i started so he could get used to it and then 3 days when i started and 2 days at my parents. Ewan wasn't a problem either as his school has an after school club with lots of spaces,but for Molly and Fred the after school club was fully booked with a large waiting list that i was told could be years!!! we looked for childminders and looked into so many options, every thing was full. I have been lucky that my parents could do the collections from school for us every night, but they can't do it permanently so currently we are looking into other options,with Paul perhaps getting anew job that would free him up to pick up the kids, so still up in the air at the moment. I never realised just how much of a problem it  would be, there must be so many people struggling with this.

I have really enjoyed making new friends and meeting new people, the job its self is not the most interesting i have ever had, but there is so many other things going on there and some opportunity that sound really good. So i start properly on Monday and a few people from training will be with me on my section so thats all good.

Paul has been off this last week as the schools don't go back till Monday either. I think with all of them at home he has had a good taster of what its like to be at home and he has been doing all the house work,apart from cooking which i have been doing, but we have a good routine sorted for who's doing what now we are both working. so its all coming together. So new year and new start really for all of us this year!