threelilprincesses.com

Tag: work

  • The Shed: The reason I ditched a date with Princess Mary

    The Shed: The reason I ditched a date with Princess Mary

    baby in pink hat
    My li'l Tasmanian princess

    By The Bloke in The Shed

    IT’S NOT every day you get a chance to snub royalty. Yep, a letter arrived inviting me and Princess Kel to dinner with our Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik of Denmark.

    While it was an interesting offer, it did not take me long to respond in the negative – I’m enjoying spending some well-earned holidays with my own little royal family, the three princesses. There was also the little matter of forking out for the airfares to Canberra.

    Now I assumed Princess Kel would be delighted when I told her I’d turned down the chance of a lifetime to spend as much time of my first holidays in seven months with her and the kids as possible. How wrong could I be?

    “YOU DID WHAT?’’ she exclaimed.

    “Get on the ‘net and check out how much the fares would be,’’ she followed.

    “But what would we do with the kids?,” I countered.

    “We’ll think of something.’’

    Luckily, given the dinner was only a little over a week away, the airfares were the equivalent of the USA’s GDP and it made my original decision the correct one. Phew.

    It soon became clear of Kel’s motive. “That would have made an awesome blog post,’’ she sighed.

    Work, life and family commitments (not in that order) have made me a little scarce from www.threelilprincesses.com in recent months (is that the sound of cheering I hear?). A lot has happened in that time as I’ve worked hard to establish myself in a new position at work, a busy family and community life. Our little bubba Holly turned one and is growing at the rate of knots. Princess Ella has turned four and is far wiser than her years.

    After a bath-time, um, disagreement between Kel and I tonight, Ella sided with her mum and said to me this:

    “Daddy?,’’ she said.

    “Yes, darlin’,’’ I replied.

    “Sometimes I go with mummy’s team and then sometimes I’m on your team,’’ she said.

    “Tonight I’m on mummy’s team and I’ll be on your team tomorrow I will. Will that be good?’’

    “Yes darling’,’’ I replied unable to disguise my smile.

    I guess after four years I should be happy she wants to be on my team … sometimes. I’m quite happy with my own little royal family thankyou very much.

    Would you have ditched Princess Mary for your children?

  • Office gossip coming to a screen near you

    Office gossip coming to a screen near you

    girl on iphoneTHE other night on my personal Facebook page there was a bit of harmless office gossip going on. It was actually more a bit of fun than gossip, because it was instigated by the person the gossip was about.

    As the conversation grew, so did the inclusion of ex workmates – me included. It ended up being more like an online reunion. During the conversation, I added the comment: “Ah, I so miss office gossip. Ella whispers secrets in my ear, but they’re nowhere near as interesting!’’

    It got me thinking. While I wouldn’t change what I’m doing now for all the world (although going through the height of sickness this week did have me questioning it once or twice), some days I miss the banter that goes on in the office. The: “Did you hear she’s leaving?’’, “Did you see the size of that engagement ring?’’ or “Did you know he had a love child stashed away?’’ Oh sorry, that was Kyle Sandilands. Wrong office.

    Don’t get me wrong, I have some incredible Mum PR clients who I speak to regularly on the phone or via Skype. And because we’re all sleep and conversation deprived mums, we do tend to natter a little longer than the usual office coffee break. So in that respect, I’m pretty blessed.

    Really though, can anything compared to conversations like this one with Ella yesterday after hearing an ambulance siren down town?

    Ella: “Quick Mum, let’s follow and find out what’s happening’’.

    Me: “It’s OK darling, we don’t need to follow them today.’’

    Ella (pulling out her pretend phone); “Yes, hello? I’m on my iPhone. I thought you might like to know I heard eee-awwws. Yes, we’re on our way. To your stations.’’

    Yes, she’ll always be the daughter of an Editor and someone who watches way too much Octanauts.

    Do you miss the (harmless) office gossip now you’re a stay-at-home or work-at-home mum?  Or is there something about your old workplace you miss more?

  • FEATURE: I’m grateful for sanitary pads

    FEATURE: I’m grateful for sanitary pads

    Baby Holly: “Da-Da DAAADDDD.''

    This week I’m grateful for:

    • Dora the Explorer toothpaste. When I ran out of toothpaste this week, I was ever so grateful to look into the cupboard and see Dora flashing her pearly whites back at me. Ahh, fresh, bubble gum breath.
    • The first week of The Bloke in The Shed’s new job as Editor of The Advocate Newspaper now behind him. It’s been a tough one for him and two little girls who didn’t get to have their dinner with him each night. That’s not to say there won’t be more weeks like this, but it’s nice to have this one out of the way.
    • A sanitary pad in the middle of my copy of Madison magazine. Ella spilt her water all over the dining room table – including my copy of Madison – during dinner the other night. I hadn’t even had a chance to read it. However, when I picked it up, I noticed only the back half (the side facing down) was drenched. The front half had been saved by the sanitary pad. At least it was put to good use.

    I’m joining with  Maxabella Loves to share what I’m grateful for.

     

  • SHED: All from a sneaky kiss

    SHED: All from a sneaky kiss

    THIS week I was honoured with the editorship of The Advocate Newspaper. It’s the paper I grew up reading as a kid (mostly comics and the footy achievements of my brothers). It’s so much more than that though. It’s where I met Princess Kel.

    Despite growing up in neighbouring towns, Kel and I were not destined to meet till that one day I happened to walk into the then Editor’s office as a young cadet to find this pretty little thing sitting there. Kel doesn’t remember that moment. I do. Like it was yesterday.

    In those early days at the newspaper, our lives were heading in different directions… till events made us realise our shared feelings. A sneaky kiss in the newspaper’s file room (which funnily enough is now the IT dept) sealed the deal.

    From then on, while being different individually, we have been almost as one. Our strengths and weaknesses complement each other. There is no doubt my sometimes over-the-top personality helped Kel evolve from a shy, young journo into a confident writer, while I would not be an Editor today without her calming hand and sound, measured advice.

    Yet, our greatest achievement has nothing to do with the newspaper directly. It is the two princesses we have been blessed with – Ella and Holly. Whatever you achieve in your working life is great, but it can never supersede what you have as a family.

    Follow me on Twitter at @Julian_OBrien or the TLP blog on Facebook.

  • SHED: When life gets in the way

    SHED: When life gets in the way

    Ella with her hat on, ready to play with Dad.

    THE words came out of Princess Ella’s mouth so casually, but they cut like a knife. It happened as I was preparing myself for work on Sunday morning, with my three-year-old quietly watching on.

    The first words out of her mouth were to soften me up. “Why are you going to work today, Dad?,’’ she said simply. Now normally, I’m a Monday-to-Friday professional, leaving Saturday and Sunday to spend blissfully with my princesses. However, there are occasions when I’m required to work Sunday to Thursday.

    “Daddy has to work today, but he’ll be able to spend Friday and Saturday with you this week, does that sound good?,’’ I said. Then, Ella went “WHACK”. “Not good enough Dad,’’ she said in much the same tone as her mother would address her after finding texta on the curtains (again). Those words and the look on her face knocked the wind out of me.

    Now, I’m confident enough to know I maintain a pretty good work/life balance, but it still hurt me to think I’d disappointed my little girl by trotting off to work on a day she’d normally spend tormenting me in a million different ways. In a strange way too, it also made me feel good that she enjoys my company and is not sick of me yet (my guess is that will come in her teenage years).

    Unfortunately, Princess Ella is going to have to get used to the idea she has a dad who works hard to provide things for the family. I enjoy my time with her and make sure there’s plenty of it, despite having a busy workload and some other community commitments, but it always has been, and will be, “family first”.

    How do you manage your work/life balance?

    Helena from New-Age Retro Mum debates Should Both Parents Be Home?

    Feli from My Life In Mono, having just returned to work this month, discusses The Working Mum.

    Read more from The Shed.