Wednesday 1 August 2012

When one door closes

If you've been reading this blog for a while you may have noticed that one thing I never talk about is my job. Now that I'm no longer working, I'm going to talk about my job. For the last fifteen years I worked for Centrelink.

I had a very interesting career, worked in different sections and across the country. Most of the time I worked in the investigations section, dealing with customers who either deliberately or unknowingly were receiving payments that they were not entitled to. Working in Investigations permanently changed the way I look at the world. I am cynical, skeptical, unsympathetic and unapologetic. Having said that, most of the time I loved my job.

Anyone who thinks that public servants don't work hard have never worked for Centrelink. The staff there work very hard with constant abuse and little to no thanks for the work that they do.  

I accepted a redundancy from work so am now officially a stay at home mum. After having Chai I didn't want to go back to work, I hate the idea of him being in day care and someone else looking after him, so I am very glad that I won't be returning to work. I always knew I wanted to be a stay at home mum, but wondered how I'd feel about being dependent on hubby and having no income. Surprisingly, that's the last thing on my mind. Since I've been home with bub I haven't felt like I've lost my independence. I'm lucky that hubby is very generous with money, he never makes me feel like it's his money, he always talks about it being our money and he doesn't mind that I have no income as he doesn't want bub to be in day care either. 

There are times when I think it'd be nice to go to work for a break and some time away. It'd be great to eat a meal in peace, go to the toilet on my own and wander around the shops on my lunch break. But then I look at my little boy and know there is no way I could leave him. When Chai is older I will return to work, but for the next few years I'm going to be a stay at home mum and I couldn't be happier.

9 comments :

  1. Good for you! I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to work for Centrelink! You deserve a medal for having worked there for so long! I guess your medal is being a stay at home mum, which I'm sure you will get a lot more benefit from!

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    1. Yes, being able to stay home with bub is definitely my reward. As difficult as it was at times, I enjoyed my job. I was lucky to always work on back office functions, I don't think I could have coped with working in one of the Customer Service Centres.

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  2. I'm a social worker and work closely with Centrelink at times. I have nothing but good things to say about those who work there - good on you!

    Sharleena xx

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    1. Aww, that is lovely. Being a Social Worker must be a challenging job too. One of my friends is a child protection Social Worker and she sees some awful things.
      xx

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  3. Enjoy your time with your gorgeous boy Annissa. I think real freedom is having the ability to choose what you want to do at the time you want to do it. I'm sure you'll love and treasure these next few years.

    Work is a funny thing. I don't really discuss mine as you know but I'm always interested in what people do. If I ever resign maybe I'll unleash my stories on the world then!

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    1. That is so true Nat!

      You would have some amazing stories to tell about your work!
      I still don't really feel comfortable talking about my work and I was quite nervous about posting this, but I really wanted to acknowledge my redundancy cause it feels like a big milestone in my life :)

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  4. I know this is super delayed but I just wanted to say congratulations!

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  5. I know how hard you were working lovely - and as someone who has spent time in BI (and moved on again) I am so glad that you were offered this opportunity to spend more time focussing on something other than work. Hugs x

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Hi, thanks so much for your comment!