On women, working, mummy-ing, pasta and Brexit.

And here we are. A new year.

2018. We finally have flying hoverboards that work. Leo has an Oscar. Wonder Woman has beaten almost all men superheroes in terms of ticket sales. New seasons were confirmed for Peaky Blinders, Call The Midwife, and Stranger Things, although SIGH, SUITS is definitely over.

But life for us girls ain't always pink and glitter.

Prince Harry has a fiancé (no more princes left! - just saying -). Nutella still makes us fat. The Pay Gender Gap, against which we have been fighting since 1830, is still there. Only much worse. In some workplaces, women are paid up to 52% LESS than men. FIFTYTWOPERCENT.

In many workplaces, (but, and I am proud and happy to say this, NOT mine), women, even in managerial positions, are "encouraged" to take paycuts in order to pick children up from school, because, despite what everyone seems to think, remote working seems not to be an option. Too many employers are still convinced that men can clearly work while having a cup of coffee and chatting in a shared work space, but it's impossible for a woman to do the same when her son plays minecraft from the moment he gets through the door to the one when she shouts "Dinner's Readyyy!".

And again, this is currently SO not my case, because JA is an AWESOME workplace, but God forbid that, like me, you have a special needs child, because "well, then you'll want to stay home and be there for him", given it might take A LITTLE MORE than 6 months to get your diagnosis and relevant help (We gave up and went private after 8 months, but you really do not want to know how much 18 months out of school costed us in terms of private tutors, lawyers, tribunal battles against LEA).

I don't want to stay home. I SO DON'T. I never did.

I ADORE my job, I worked hard to develop my career all my life.

I worked through men thinking that their money would "wow me" into doing what they wanted (I "declined" and ran as fast as I could from those agencies). A problem as old as time, which FT is trying to expose in these days.

I worked thorugh people making remarks about my appearance after meetings and saying "She actually said something interesting in there".

I worked through "Are you coming back to work 60days before the end of your 6 compulsory months of maternity leave, or am I hiring someone else?" (I "accepted" and did go back).

I worked through a divorce, through losses of grandmothers and arrival of new nephews and nieces, sometimes with not enough notice for me to go back home.

And through this, I think I manage to be a decent mum, one who doesn't have her phone or laptop out at all times, one who goes to the aquarium, rolls in mud at the park, and tries her best at videogames (although, "I know you REALLY try, but mamma you ARE rubbish").

AND OF COURSE, I eat clean, limit my G&T's, go to hot yoga and to the gym.

And how do you make life easier for the working-special needs-single mum with a tendency to gain weight even when she eats clean? Why, BREXIT, of course!

Threaten non UK citizen for months with all sorts of confused future instances, so much that people panic and start moving to Ireland (I swear some of my Italian friends living in the UK did it). And then, change your mind, and decide you probably would want to remain.

But Brexit or not Brexit, don't ever think you'll be able to get rid of me so easily: I have adored Queen Elizabeth ALL MY LIFE, and no one, NO ONE will send me away now that I live a 2hours8min Virgin train ride from her. I have 4 cats who only speak scouse, so learning Italian is a no-no. Plus, my macaroni cheese made from scratch "tastes like real pasta", and my son won't eat it. And we don't have Tesco Finest in Italy.

So you see, this working-special needs-single-expat-crazycatlady mum and her tendency to gain weight even when she eats clean are here to stay, contribute to the UK economy, fight for equal pay and the rights of mums to work from home for - DO take my word for it - quite a long time.