Diary of an academic mum

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD). This is the third post in a three-part series discussing my desire to return to work (see post 1 and 2 ). I explored my reasons for returning to work in my previous post . This post will explore the fears I have when it comes to returning to work and being able to ‘do it all’. My fears One third of Australian parents are worried or anxious about returning to work , with two thirds worrying about their wellbeing (Image 1). Image 1: Findings from the National Working Families Report 2019 (credit: APLEN ) Based on those figures, it seems that lots of parents are apparently cool cucumbers about returning to work. I call bullshit and think that all parents would feel some worry about the transition. We’re parents, worrying is what we do best. Image 2: No parent is this chilled during the transition back to work after parental leave, surely! (credit: VectorStock ) Here are some of the thing...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD). This is the first post in a three-part series discussing my desire to return to work (see post 2 and 3 ).  This post talks about my history with work and my personal attitude shift from wanting to be a stay-at-home mum to returning to work four months after having my first child. My experience with work since graduating university There was a time when I hated my job. I was in my 20s and had just graduated from my physiotherapy degree. I felt like it was normal to hate my job, as if working full time was a free pass to paid misery. It’s well established that full time workers hate Mondays and live for the weekend, right (Image 1)? It was this time in my life where I couldn’t wait to have kids so I could stop working and be a stay-at-home mum. I could do what I really want to do, which was raise children and care for my family. Image 1: Surely all full time workers hate Mondays? (Credit: Facebook ) I...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD). This is the second post in a three-part series discussing my desire to return to work (see post 1 and 3 ). I wrote about my employment history and the things we have in Australia that support women to return to work in my previous post . Let’s now talk about my specific reasons for wanting to return. My reasons for returning to work Writing that title felt a bit odd. Why must I need reasons to want to return to work? I am a highly educated and driven woman who deserves to be happy in both her private and professional lives. My happiness relies on balancing both family and work life, which has informed my decision to return to work part time. I will be away from Abby 3-days per week and she will be in formal day-care on these days.  44% of Australian women who have the income and make the choice to not rely on regular informal/family day-care when returning to work use formal day-care. Abby will be 4-mon...

Spending time with my 3-month-old daughter, Abby, at the library (Christmas, 2019) My name is Brea and I have never had a blog before. I have recently decided to start putting some of my thoughts on (electronic) paper to give myself something entertaining to do aside from work and supporting my family. At the time of writing this, I am 31 years old (born 1988), have been married to my husband Ben since 2015, currently own a house in south east Melbourne (Australia) and have one child called Abby who was born on September 13 2019. I have Bachelor's degrees in biomedical science and health, a masters in physiotherapy and a PhD in physical activity promotion. I work as a researcher and a physiotherapist. My hobbies include exercise and setting physical challenges for myself, lifelong learning (by doing short courses etc.) and blogging (for now anyway!). I primarily write about public health related issues, as well as topics related to my personal life. I hope you enjoy my ...