Although time seems to creep along during the uncomfortable, unsleepable third trimester, lately days are going by fast because we are all so busy. But our collective stress level is sky high. I recognize I'm not my best self right now to those who live with me. We are both working a lot, and working hard. There seems to be little availability of time, patience, and understanding at the end of these intense days.
At work, I'm training the temp who will take over my role while I'm on maternity leave. We have another six weeks of training, and if I do a good job, I'll be able to transfer some of my responsibilities to her while I'm still there. All is going well, as she seems capable and good-natured, but teaching the nuances of my job for the better part of the day, while also making sure all of the work gets done, is exhausting.
Around Christmas, I took on some freelance work for a local planning firm, doing the kind of design and marketing that I love. They're a good client, and have been offering additional projects. On top of that, I've been helping a friend revamp her non-profit's logo in exchange for some free publicity for my t-shirt company. Which reminds me, I need to get my new website developed, and launched since I'm trying to generate publicity! What is wrong with me?? I just can't. say. no.
Dave is going full-force at his job, pursuing leadership and extracurricular opportunities on top of his daily teaching duties. He's writing papers and studying on the weekends for his sixth-year degree, and interning with the high school administration here in town in his, ahem, free time.
Edie's been busy with her own project: potty training! We made decent progress when Grammy was here a couple weeks ago. Grammy and Edie spent a lot of time at home, with constant one-on-one attention. When Edie returned to day care, she'd sit on the potty but never peed. I felt that her diaper was a safety net (literally), and she regressed because she wasn't 100% comfortable outside of home. So last weekend, we pushed the potty hard, complete with undies, stickers, applause, and pull-ups only at bed- and naptime. We had a few accidents but it was largely successful, so on Monday I sent her to school in undies (and an open diaper in the seat of her $250 car seat - no peeing in there, girl!) We've had mixed results, but keep moving forward, and the diapers are only for bed time now. I would LOVE to have her fully trained within the next couple weeks. I hear kids can regress when a new baby arrives and they see parents' changing the babe's diapers. Guess we'll find out soon!
Anyway, it was great having Dave's mom visit, and she got her fill of Edie (the intent of her trip). They played with dolls, baked cookies, and visited the library together. Having a built-in Grammy/nanny was awesome for us too. Who doesn't appreciate someone doing your dinner dishes while you put the girl to bed, or a free sitter to make a Max Burger date reality?
We also had a visit from the Edmands family recently. I got to do a trial run of having an infant and a toddler by babysitting Shane. He is just the cutest little peanut, so mellow. Edie kept saying, "I think he wants his pacifier on" even though he wasn't fussy, and we kept everything under relative control for a couple hours.
Lastly, I found a good blog, CT Working Moms, that I refer to when my intense schedule and responsibilities get me down. Of course my mom, and Dave's mom, and lots of moms have balanced it all before, but I like reading about it in real time, and knowing I'm not in this boat alone.
Now if I could just wrap up some of these side projects...
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