I went down to the child care centre I had chosen to send Darby to, to drop of his paperwork. It’s been sitting on various horizontal surfaces for a couple of weeks now. I was in no hurry as I had been told there were no spots available on the mornings I wanted.

Turns out, an hour before I got there, a spot became available every Thursday morning and every second Friday morning.

You know those moments in your life where you feel like things were just meant to be? This was one of those moments. It’s not a big thing, but it’s a thing that was on my list that has worked out exactly how I had hoped.

I’ve had a lot of guilt around sending my kids to childcare over the years. I don’t work so surely it’s my job to take care of my children 24/7 right?

The thing is if we were near family, I dare say my parents would have one or two of them for a few hours here and there. But I don’t have family nearby so this is the next best thing. I need a break to recharge and just get stuff done without the kids “helping”. I am very grateful that Hubs gets it too.

I think the guilt will always be there (maybe until they are all in school??) and over the years I have learnt to own my decision. I certainly don’t judge other mums who “don’t work” for putting their kids in childcare. I think I’ve put off putting him in care until now because quite frankly he’s so easy to have around. And he’s just at such a cute age where he repeats everything the older two say and do. It’s too adorable.

I know that I will fill the time with mostly essential mundane tasks that just have to be done but I will also be making an effort to have coffee with friends when I can as well. Hubs does call me a latte mum so I need to live up to my title!