I never thought I would truly look forward to going to work. I like my job, I feel good about the work that I do, I'm madly in love with my co-workers who are the coolest group of women ever (other than my college buddies, of course).
But it's a job. It's not hanging out with my dogs and reading books.
Having a baby has changed my mindset. Patrick, my wonderful little man who is a fantastic baby, is sort of tough to be at home with ALL DAY LONG. And he's a good sleeper, likes other people, can self-sooth pretty well, and we haven't had the dreaded colic issue with hours of screaming. But it's hard to be "on" all day with minimal breaks. Thank God for naptime, right?
So I get up in the morning to head off to work with a light heart. We have a great day care lady who says Patrick does quite well with the kids at her house. And I'm thinking, "Yeah, a 12 hour break!" For me, going to work provides a great balance to being at home with him. My schedule really helps this. While it's a long time to be gone (I pump four or five times during the day), I have lots of full days off to be with him. And we do lots of fun things. Visit friends, go to the library, try all the cupcake places in Tacoma. I've found lots of great mothers' groups in the area, and I've met some wonderful new people. It's a good balance, and it makes it lots of fun to be a working-outside-the-house Mommy.
OK, the fact that he sleeps REALLY helps all this cheerfulness. And that extra breastmilk that Kevin thawed last night for the babysitter? Guess who got to do that nighttime growth-spurt feeding with a bottle?
6 comments:
He is a good boy, sleeping through the night so that Mommy can get her rest! I've heard many new Mommys say that they need something outside of the home, just for themselves. Good for you for taking that initiative and enjoying your job to boot.
Your last comment made me laugh. It is a "pining" song, which does tend to drive one crazy after awhile.
So, when I was home sick on Friday, I thought it was such a vacation since everyone was gone from the house. I felt like a kid home sick from school -- not feelin' great, but getting to sleep and watch TV (without kidlet interruption) was quite a treat. Sigh. ;)
I am so looking forward to helping to take care of Patrick this weekend. You can do the yardwork thing - I'll do the grandma thing and we'll all go and do the cupcake thing.
A happy mom will ensure happy baby, except on days when Patrick is grumpy just because he wants to be a grump. :)
:) mmmm cupcakes!! Elijah is now a little terror running our household reading and consuming everything in sight. Its great to be a parent but its nice to have a break too.
The 24-hour-on-call thing is my least favorite part of being a parent. Fortunately, it's not bothering me as much with 2 kids. Maybe you get used to it.
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