I have really appreciated the flexibility that I have in my life when it comes to school holidays over the last two weeks. My daughter came to the office for a few days to assist me transfer all the business cards I have collected to LinkedIn invitations. During the two weeks I was able to mix and match – working at odd times to ensure I had time to be with my fast growing teenagers.

It did make me lament that not all people have this opportunity. My colleague Philippa who is permanent part time and the leader of our communications effort – juggles her hours so that she can have full days with her children and them in holiday care for only a few days –not all employers are like this – but RedBalloon has always been a truly flexible business

I wonder how many parents don’t get to holiday together because with 20 days leave a year each parent must take leave to look after children. Something does need to happen to support parents and the endless juggle.

Margie Hartley and I have made the FreeChildcareAustralia.com website live last week (though we have not launched it yet)… we need more individual stories on how people manage their childcare juggle… what are the costs; both financially and the opportunity cost? Please take a moment to share your story.

This week it is all about the corporate team and planning. I am enjoying the work that I am doing with our clients – it is such a privilege to be invited into businesses to work with them on their programs – whether it is incentive programs or recognition systems.

Our engagement capability workshops are about to start in Melbourne this Wednesday – as we tour the country – my colleague James Wright will be delivering what we discovered with AltusQ in the research we did at the beginning of the year. Let me know what you learned – if you have have a moment to attend.