Monday, January 30, 2012

I Was Always A Working Mom, But I Work Differently Now

Today was my first day at work in almost two years. I mean real, full time work, not odd or part time "fun" jobs.

It was really good. I had a nice time trying to remember people's names and getting a feel for what we do and how we do it.

It didn't go off completely without a hitch. I thought I'd be able to take public transportation and still make it back to pick up the boys, but after seeing the way our company works and how slowly the bus runs, that is not going to happen. So we need to figure out a new plan. I will stay home a bit later in the mornings and drop the boys off and will get to stay at the office a bit later in the evenings. And I really, really need to find a parking spot ASAP. I hate the bus and although I'd like to stay greener, I am just not willing to triple the length of my commute. I can't.

Of course this means "someone else" is now responsible for dinner most nights! And that someone almost never cooks. So it looks like we will start spending some time on the weekends prepping quick meals for the upcoming week. That's ok. Probably wise actually.

I know it will all work out in the end. And I know we only need to lower our standards for a while for stuff like how clean the house is and how nice our meals are. It will sort out in the long run.

I think I'm doing the right thing. I had more patience with the boys tonight than I've had in ages. We can eliminate some bad habits and behaviours from our life. I am going to feel more like me and more like a valuable contributor to our family and our finances. I am going to show my boys that mommies can do more than serve meals and wipe bums. There is always huge value in that, and I will do it gladly for them, but I want to show them that isn't all I can do.

It's going to be a long road and an interesting month. I'm so excited, but a small part of me would love to fast forward to the time when we do have things all figured out.

Also, I'm tired as hell and not looking forward to stuffing diapers tonight one.little.bit.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Big Changes!

So far, 2012 has been a year of many, massive changes for our family!

The biggest - I'm going back to work. Not BACK to work, but to a new, wonderful job that I'm incredibly excited about! As soon as I read the posting, I knew it was perfect for me and vice versa, and I think my new company thinks so too, because I got called for an interview almost immediately and I got the job offer just three days after the interview. It's going to be great, and I'm very excited about starting next week.

That also means my boys needed someone else to take care of them. By lucky coincedence, B1's BFF's mother mentioned to me that BFF's dayhome was looking for more kids. So I called, and she was happy to take them. And best of all, both B1 and B2 loved it when we went to meet her. Even more awesome, she takes BFF to preschool, and she can take B1 too. That was a big relief, I really didn't want to have to pull him out of preschool, but a daycare situation that would take him and pick him up is elusive. And she is all kinds of amazing too, she is willing to try our cloth diapers and the boys adore her already. They cried when I came to take them home yesterday. Also, she sent lunch home for them yesterday (so they could get used to her cooking) and B1 ate CHICKEN, happily and without coercion. This is nothing short of a miracle.

So this has been our transition week. I started them going for a couple of half days and a couple of full days this week while I was still home to come to the rescue if anything went horribly. I've been kind of at loose ends. It's quiet in here. I'm not used to having time to actually think about what I want to do next, let alone having the time to do it. I tried to make it harder by taking in a new foster dog last weekend, but the darn guy is too good. He is hardly any work at all. Aside from the extra laundry from peeing everywhere, but that's hardly different. I've started to run again. Slowly, and not as often as once upon a time, but hopefully that will come with time. I'm really tired of dragging around this mummy tummy and I'm very motivated to get fit again.

I've started to learn how to make quicker meals and save time on cooking and cleaning, since my time will be so much less. I think I can keep us eating similarly to what we're used to, but I haven't figured out the cleaning solution yet. Well, I have, but I haven't hired her yet.

Thankfully, that's all the news I have to share right now. I don't think I could handle much more change than this! It will be interesting to make the transition from a stay at home mom to a working mom and I hope I do a good job of documenting this journey!