I love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful, beautiful life.
So, I'm living in this highly parallel universe of being a stay-at-home mom and a full time working mother. You see, I get the best of both worlds... I'm home with Ev Monday through Friday... and then I go work my full time job as a L&D nurse Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
This little arrangement has not always been easy. It is frankly quite exhausting, but since I went back to work when Ev was 3 months old, we've always found a way to make it work.
The older she has gotten, the more entertaining she has required. I'm frequently asked- what do you do with her all day? Life with a nearly 9 month old is
7:15-7:30 am- Evie wakes up. Thank G for the time change because prior to this she woke up at 6:15. Ew.
7:30-7:45 am- Breastfeed the bambino. This task can be longer or shorter depending on the baby's 'focus'. Sometimes she just wants to scratch me... Or suddenly turn her head and look at the dog whilst my lady parts are still in her mouth. This then leads to a yelp from me, and the yelp then leads to a crying baby. Which then leads to minutes of trying to console her. And then we start the process all over again. Awesome.
7:45am- Diaper change. If I catch a hint of poo smell I usually try to pawn this off on Jason, because Lawd knows I'll be changing more than my fair share of poopy diapers today... Especially if she's already got a deuce on deck at 745 in the morning.
8:00am- Look up the weather for the day.
8:30am- Plan the day based on weather forecast that it took me 30 minutes to look up. Unreal. Well, I sort of get distracted by any of the following (in no particular order): baby laughing, baby smiling, Pinterest, baby pooping again, baby crying, Facebook, Candy Crush, Today Show, bathroom break, dog, kitchen fire, Instagram, text messages from people I like, text messages from people I don't like, pondering the meaning of life... I could go on. I have ADD people... the fact that I can walk and chew gum is an accomplishment most days.
9:00am- Spend time looking at the babies clothes to try to figure out what I should put her in for the days activities.
9:01am- Decide that she can just stay in her pajamas all day. Oh, these pajamas are the same ones she's been wearing the last 3 days... Crap.
9:04am- Decide to change her into a new pair of pajamas for the day. Thankfully we can get at least another 3 days of wear out of those.
9:05am- Play with the baby. Our latest activities include: peekaboo until I just can't peek and boo any longer, singing a song while clapping our hands, pulling all of the books out of box while mama puts them all back in. Lately, Ev has decided she would have more fun with kamikaze playtime and every time I turn my back for a half second I catch her trying to climb up the side of our coffee table. The kid struggles at times to sit up without falling over- how she thinks she can scale the side of a coffee table beats me. When I attempt to redirect Evie from kamikaze activities she cries and screams and pitches a fit. Fun!
9:06am- Look up daycare centers in the Georgetown area... Maybe this 'Stay at home Mom' stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be.
9:08am- Recover from sticker shock of the cost of daycare and return to playing with Evie... Being a Stay at home Mom (or whatever I am) isn't so bad... Back to playing! Weeeeeee! We're having so much fun!
9:30am- Nap time. Yes! I can get so many things done during this time!
11:00am- Nap time is over already?! I didn't even get off the couch. Well gee, I guess I'll try to tidy up the house during the next nap...
11:05am- This diaper change is unholy. What the heck did she eat?! Immediately regret giving her that chicken curry last night. What was I thinking?! Bad.decision.
11:10am- Lunch time! <mental note: no chicken curry> Yogurt and fruit it is!
11:30am- Regret the yogurt decision as it is now everywhere, including in the dogs hair. And we will not be getting another minute more of wear out of those pajamas. Excellent.
11:35am- Bath time for baby... Do I wash the dog too? Oh geez. No i can't. I just can't... It's too much to try to manage them both.
11:36am- Hate myself for neglecting the dog. Remind myself to give her a nice belly rub during the baby's next nap. Hopefully the yogurt will be dry and I can just flick it out... But then I'll need to vacuum... Ok, I will manage all of this.
11:50am- Bath time is now over. Look at clock. How much longer til Jas gets home? Oh man, it's not even noon...
12:15pm- Play with baby.
12:20pm- Attempt to sneak away from playing with baby so I can try to straighten the house and feel like I accomplished something today.
12:25pm- Evie notices my absence and begins to cry.
12:26pm- Decide that we have had enough indoor time for now, and the only way I can get Evie to stop crying is to go outside. So, we pack on no less than 5 layers and bundle up to go out into the subzero temps. Evie! Evie? Where are you? Oh, there you are...just a little face amongst the layers and snowsuit and 4 blankets to keep your little body warm. And we're off...
1:30pm- Return home from our walk. I can't feel my face. Check to see if the baby's
1:40pm- Put baby in bouncer so I can get something accomplished today.
1:45pm- Hear baby laughing and enjoying herself while I'm in the other room doing dishes and decide to come join her instead. The dishes can wait.
2:00pm- Good ol' afternoon nap time. Praise G! I can do anything now... maybe I'll: read a book, flip through a magazine, take a nap, vacuum, finish cleaning, write thank you notes for gifts from 6 months ago, organize sock drawer, do laundry, take a shower, go to the bathroom for the first time today, brush my teeth, begin prepping dinner, blog, don't forget to rub dogs belly...
3:30pm- What?! She's awake! I didn't even get to do anything I was hoping to do during her nap! How does this happen?!
3:31pm- Swear off Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Candy Crush.
3:35pm- Change baby's diaper. More feces. Really, I swear she doesn't eat this much. Where does she store it? Is she pocketing food in her cheeks? I'm so confused. Is it time for Jason to be home yet?
3:40pm- Back to playing with the baby and observing for kamikaze activity. Early intervention is key.
4:30pm- We have been playing on the floor all this time and the baby has had exactly 4,123 meltdowns all around the fact that she can't crawl yet and she really wants to. I do my best to support her with keywords and phrases from one of our 27 parenting books, such as "I know how hard you're trying and I want you to know proud of you I am" and "I sense that you're frustrated, but you just need to keep working at it- you will get there" and "you can do it, I have faith in you"... I swear I just saw her flick me off...
5:15pm- I smell more poop... but Jas will be home soon... maybe we can wait just a few more minutes...
5:15pm and 15 seconds- I can't! I can't wait one more second. The smell emanating from her diaper is so foul it must come off this instant.
5:16pm- Strawberries. Bad idea. Bad idea. The poo has a fruity quality now... Ugh. That just ruined my appetite for the night.
5:30pm- Dada's home! Hallelujah! Thank you Lawd! Pass off the baby... while Jas looks around the house and then back at me I give him a death glare with my eyes that tells him if he says one word about the condition of our home I will strangle/bludgeon/decapitate him and he gives me a loving peck on the forehead and gets to playing with the baby.
5:35pm- I begin to straighten the house and get dinner ready. Hey, at least I'm finally getting something accomplished.
6:30pm- We eat dinner, I can breathe because I have some help and it's not just me versus the baby anymore. My teammate is here, and we can tackle anything that comes our way now because it's us versus the baby...
6:55pm- Do you smell that? Nope, sure don't. Isn't it your turn to put her to bed? Wait, isn't it your turn? The pouty lip often works and Jas ends up putting her to bed while I get the kitchen cleaned up from dinner. And bedtime prep includes the most vile diaper change. Teeheehee.
7:00-9:30pm- Catch up on the DVR, talk about our days, go to bed at 7:15pm sometimes...
And do it all over again tomorrow.
I love this crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life... And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
I think that you working on the week-ends is a good thing, think how it would have been to work during the week and have the week-end to spend with Evie. Still, it must be quite hard. When it gets too hard and you feel like the routine is swallowing you, go out with your husband or have a relaxing bath. Even though your child is the most important, you shouldn't forget about you, either.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, Irene. We definitely need that time to reconnect and enjoy each other. I love raising Evie, but I also believe a lot in self care as well. :)
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