I'm not one for socialising either Astrid, so I feel your pain. I'm also in a company that has had numerous redundancies over the past couple of years, and it doesn't appear to be over. DH also works for the same company so it gets scary sometimes to think we could both be out of a job!

On a personal note, I'm really struggling to cope with the work/life balance thing at the moment. I work 4 days a week, with a 1 hour commute each way by the time I drop the boys off to school / childcare, or my mum's who is wonderful and has my boys 3 days out of the 4! I'm out of the house a minimum of 10 hours a day, sometimes u to 12, and that's tough on me and my beautiful boys.

I'm alway time poor, when I get home the priority is dinner and showers for the boys. Most weeks I forget to help DS1 with his reading/homework at least 1 or 2 days a week, that makes me feel like the world's worst mum because his education should be my number one priority! I struggle with the housework, DS1 is always sad on OHSC days (but is always happy when I pick him up, it's just getting him there that's the problem). I hate being so far away from DS1 when he's at school and I'm at work

Well, that feels a little better getting this off my chest. I've been desperately looking for a job closer to home with more suitable hours, however' they're very scarce and when the opportunities come up, the market is flooded with applicants.