For me, 1st September = autumn; my favourite season of the year. Now, many will disagree on this date and wave ‘proof’ under my nose, but in ‘my’ year, September, October and November are the autumn months when the nights draw in, the leaves go out on a golden haze of glory and it’s time to dig out the scarves, boots and hats — hurrah!
I am particularly enjoying the fact that the 1st September is a Monday this year and also the first day back to work after the long summer hols — I do like it when things tie up nicely! The academic new year is always a good time for new starts and it does feel like one. In the past year I have been learning to set boundaries; something I have never been very good at. So, this coming year, after an exhausting and utterly exasperating summer term, I am drawing some lines in the sand. One is, coming home as soon as possible. It is an hour’s drive to work, up the M25, and this adds two hours to my day, so I leave at 6.30am and get back at 6.30pm, if traffic is good.
With my son going off to uni in two weeks, that just leaves me and my daughter at home and I worry about her being on her own so much. She’s 15 and perfectly capable of being alone, but I really want to be more present for her — she already misses her big sister and now big brother is off too, she’s already feeling it. She also has epilepsy, so I am on constant alert and worry about something happening while I am at work (her dad works about an hour away too).
Another boundary is to do what needs to be done and leave it at that. I have spent the last few years working my arse off, trying to get promoted to senior leadership and it’s been really frustrating. Now, I’ve had enough. I just want to do my job well and not get sucked into to time-consuming projects that I seem to get no credit, or even thanks for. I’m not grouchy (even though I sound it), I just think: enough. I’ll do what I have to do, and do it well and stop volunteering for everything else.
I’m working on personal boundaries, too. More on that later.