'Send them all back to the office!', I joke, complaining abotu how many people are in the water surfing these days. Bloody pandemic. It made everyone migrate to the coast, made easier by WFH (work from home) deals.

'Everyone but us, right?' my friend Deb agrees. We're both teachers. It requires face to face. You can't teach kids online. They play games under the table. The pandemic made children behind. We're dealing with that now - kids who don't have basic math, or profess they didn't do any of the set work in nearly two years of totalitarian lockdowns. Half of them don't even know how to socialise.

It was wierd teaching from home. In our small house, my husband taught science and math and physics in the loungeroom as he needed the table. I had Year 9's virtually in my bedroom. I took them to the chook shed once to show them the chooks as a reward. It was novel. Then I hated kids in my personal space. I learnt quickly to set them some work and turn off the screen and audio. I'd be here if they needed me, I said, and got to work in the kitchen or to growing mushrooms or weeding the garden.

Still, most teachers in the classroom wouldn't mind a snap lockdown, if not to get away from staff they don't like hanging out with every single day, a crippling work load, and just getting out of bed every morning to drive to school.

I do look with some envy at the WTH crew, or those with combo jobs where they might be working for part of the week at home, and only have a day or two in the office at best. I'm awfully jealous. How exactly does one land such a job?

But then, it's nice to have a clear line between 'work' and 'home'. My job is only 9 to 3.20 at the moment anyway, as a casual relief teacher, three days max a week. I go to work, I come home. It's not so bad. I feel too late in my working life to fix things.

I just wish they'd get out of the surf on my day off. It's MY board room, excuse the pun. These people all need to get proper jobs.

^{This is in response to the Ladies of Hive questions this week: 'based on your own job hunting and work experiences, which do you prefer, working from home as a freelancer, or working outside the home where you get stable monthly pay? Why?' in combination with 'explore how each option (Freelancing vs. Traditional Employment) impacts work–life balance, considering factors such as time management, personal freedom, and the demands of clients vs employers.}