I worked all day today and Davies and Scarlett spent the day out at work with Ady. It’s easier during school holidays for them to spend a work day with him as they are less visible and prone to being asked the whole ‘no school today then?’ questions. I do like the fact that they get time with both of us at work every so often – I think seeing Ady and I in different environments is important, knowing just what it means when they picture us at work and having an appreciation of what we do is good. Frazer and I both spent large chunks of time in school holidays with our parents in their respective work – for my Mum this meant being at her restaurant, watching her manage staff, greet and serve customers, run a business and deal with planning, food preparation, delegating tasks and so on. For Dad, a painter / decorator this generally only happened when he was decorating an empty property although from time to time we’d come along when people were also there and meet all sorts of customers. This gave us a sneaky peek into how other people lived, what their homes were like, visiting builder merchants for materials, watching Dad actually do wallpapering, painting, repair work and seeing how the pace of his workday compared and contrasted to my Mum’s. From a really early age we had a really good appreciation of just what ‘at work’ meant for both my parents and I am pleased Davies and Scarlett are getting the same about Ady and I.
So while they were off doing price surveys and garden centre visits I was librarying. I had a lot of time on the Enquiry Desk today which I always enjoy as it’s nice and varied. I did some shelving and then it was lunchtime. More Enquiry Desk time and then my PDR (Personal development review). I don’t normally do a lot of preparation for these but this time I had taken time to jot down all the various things I have achieved at work over the last 12 months including various displays, training I’ve attended, events I have suggested and run, new skills I have learned and of course the whole Chatterbooks project. I have met all my targets and had plenty to add as additional things I have done so it was a positive session. I was told ‘we can’t praise you highly enough really, well done’ which was nice to hear. I also got a letter in the internal mail today from the head of the library service thanking me for Chatterbooks and noting what an important contribution I had made, particularly given it was voluntary. I guess for all the times of frustration I can consider the whole Chatterbooks exercise a success, in terms of meeting my own criteria of personal development, improving the library service offering for that age group and in actively making something happen that I wanted to see for Davies and Scarlett. I also have gotten recognition from high up people at work and made a name for myself with high up people. I think it was worth it overall :).
I had a brief stint on the counter at the end of my shift and then it was hometime. Ady and the children pulled up just after I did and the pile of Simpsons videos I’d found in a charity shop was very enthusiastically recieved and began playing while the kids had tea. I nipped out to get picnic lunch supplies for tomorrow and then came home to read some more of ‘I was a rat’ before their bedtime.
I’m feeling a bit better today although I still have a pretty sore throat. The knowledge that I am within £40 of reaching my sponsorship target is keeping me going for Saturday though and then I am fully intending to crash and feel perfectly justified in doing nothing at all on Sunday :).