Blast from the past

I'm in the middle of some kind of mental Pre-Christmas clearing out / cleaning up of the house, which as anybody who knows me will testify, is totally out of character. If there is a single other thing I can think of to do, I will choose that over cleaning. But I have finally given in, and conceded that in the absence of a house elf, it is probably my job to clean under the beds. This is a mind numbingly, soul destroyingly dull job, only made worse by coming across a folder full of work "stuff" from my previous life as a Real Person. There were notes from meetings, made by me, but it didn't sound a bit like me. There was my last work appraisal, telling me I was quite good at my job. There were minutes from meetings held just before I began maternity leave, outlining plans for while I was gone, and my adamance that I would be returning to work, full-time, at the first given opportunity. And my business cards. Little cards that told people who I was and what I did. I don't really know what to tell people when they ask what I "do" anymore without prefixing it with "just". I'm "just" a mum. And when I'm on my hands and knees cleaning toilets, or chasing a toddler around the house mid nappy change, or trying to remove two children from my legs while trying to cook dinner it's really easy to look back on my days at work with rose tinted glasses. But then I remember the office politics, the long hours, the crap pay, the constant hassle of managing a viper pit of women, the constant one-up-man-ship and proving myself over and over again working on an entirely male management team, and the absolute refusal of my employers to budge an inch after I had a baby and changed into this different version of me. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that I made the right choice for me. I'm ridiculously fortunate to be in the position to have a choice to be "just" a mum. And 90% of the time, I love it. And for as long as that's what my kids need, and I'm in the position to be able to, that's what I'll be. So I gathered up my work papers, and bunged it all in the recycling bin.......except for the business cards. I think I'd like to hold on to them.