Week one: Done
Publishing this on a Friday night in August amd hoping that someone, somewhere will actually read it...
So, I survived the first week back at work. And I didn't cry, I didn't freak out, I didn't lose my mind. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I liked applying my mental energy to problems other than Ess' sleep schedule or the bizarre propensity for her bowel movements to fill just the back half of the diaper (and beyond). I was happy to hear that my colleagues missed me, and spent some time figuring out how to be more connected to the office goings on during the days I work at home.
I'm sure some of this was just the honeymoon effect, and the novelty of change. Not to mention the fact that Ess was home with D all three days, and that they did fabulously together. With time, some of the drudgery of work will return. And in January, when he goes back to work full-time (but on a four-days-a-week schedule), she will have to spend two days a week in some form of daycare/babysitting and it will be harder to leave her.
This week, and this is a little hard to admit, the difficult thing some days was finishing work -- walking in the door at 7:15 Wednesday night and being handed a screaming baby to nurse and put to bed. Or last night, walking from my home office through the dining room and into the living room, and being handed a fussy baby who didn't know what she wanted. Nursing overnight was much sweeter, though; I didn't find myself resenting Ess at 3 am, as I had on more than one occasion. Instead, I took the opportunity to cuddle her and pat her back to sleep.
As I said, I don't know how this is all going to work out in the long run. But for now it's ok. And that in itself makes me happy.
So, I survived the first week back at work. And I didn't cry, I didn't freak out, I didn't lose my mind. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I liked applying my mental energy to problems other than Ess' sleep schedule or the bizarre propensity for her bowel movements to fill just the back half of the diaper (and beyond). I was happy to hear that my colleagues missed me, and spent some time figuring out how to be more connected to the office goings on during the days I work at home.
I'm sure some of this was just the honeymoon effect, and the novelty of change. Not to mention the fact that Ess was home with D all three days, and that they did fabulously together. With time, some of the drudgery of work will return. And in January, when he goes back to work full-time (but on a four-days-a-week schedule), she will have to spend two days a week in some form of daycare/babysitting and it will be harder to leave her.
This week, and this is a little hard to admit, the difficult thing some days was finishing work -- walking in the door at 7:15 Wednesday night and being handed a screaming baby to nurse and put to bed. Or last night, walking from my home office through the dining room and into the living room, and being handed a fussy baby who didn't know what she wanted. Nursing overnight was much sweeter, though; I didn't find myself resenting Ess at 3 am, as I had on more than one occasion. Instead, I took the opportunity to cuddle her and pat her back to sleep.
As I said, I don't know how this is all going to work out in the long run. But for now it's ok. And that in itself makes me happy.
posted by mc at 9:58 PM
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