Luca day

A day with Luca: our regular Friday. Frieda was with us for most of the morning too, as Jack and Marianna had both mistakenly booked online work sessions at the same time. That was fine: Luca and Frieda love their playtimes together, even when some serious refereeing is needed occasionally.
Jack then came to ours for lunch, before taking Frieda home. He announced that he has resigned from his job. He's been feeling rundown for a while, and has also had mixed feelings about the organisation he joined in January.  Among other things, apparently the organisation's response to the appalling 'send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing' govt policy has been weak (and it is an organisation that works for and with refugees). In addition to that, he's desperate to find a job that involves face to face work, rather than the largely remote, online working that the current one is based on.
Richard and I reflected (not in Jack's presence) that neither of us ever resigned from one job before having something else to go to. Sometimes that meant putting up with extremely difficult situations... but neither of us had the kind of financial safety net that would have made risking unemployment an option. For whatever reason, Jack doesn't seem to feel those worries.  He's hoping for some time to reflect and find a new professional direction.
I managed to suppress any expressions of maternal anxiety, and just tried to listen to what he was saying. I am anxious, however - of course. He has had one episode of severe depression in the past, and being out of a job has never been good for his state of mind. Perhaps this period will feel different, as a positive choice. But these are such uncertain times... and Marianna's work is entirely freelance; no security there.
Anyway. Once Jack had taken Frieda home, R and I had a quiet time with Luca for the rest of the afternoon. He played in the bath for a while; water play is always a good option for tired afternoons. We also had a little potter in the playground over the road, before driving back to Josh and Ruth's. In today's image, Luca is contentedly helping Josh to chop up vegetables for tea. Doing kitchen tasks with his Dad is possibly Luca's favourite activity in the world, at the moment.