Mommy Alone Time

My wildest introverted daydream has now been realized! I am home alone. Alone! There is nobody but me in the house. Sigh, it’s glorious. Mommy alone time is a coveted thing for all moms, especially those of us who are introverted. There’s no escaping children. Those adorable chubby hands reach for me when I’m in the bathroom and Lil' O has even begged to join me in the shower. (It’s in these moments that Husby thankfully runs intervention.) But, still, the best alone time I get is late at night when everyone is asleep. It counts and it’s wonderful. I get so much done! Now that I’m back to work, I also get daytimes at home with just the dog. So nice, but even still there’s always someone to interrupt my train of thought, to take care of, to be sure I’m not literally tripping over or walking into. Really, this pup is constantly nearby! You'd think he was a herding animal.

We started this week sending Knute to doggy daycare during the day. He’s been at this facility when we’re out of town, but today is his first daytime-only visit. To start, it’ll be once every other week. Poor pup desperately needs to socialize with other dogs and while we have been taking care of new baby and juggling Lil’ O, he has fallen to the bottom of the priority list. Sure, he’s still walked once a day and gets to hang with us, but it is so clearly not enough for our high energy, high anxiety dog.

First Week Back to Work

Baby #2 is here and I’ve now been back to work a full week. It’s high time I updated the blog! And, finished up things like sending out birth announcements. Hmm, whoops. Go figure, having a newborn in the house made things a bit crazier and has allowed for a lot less sleep.

Going back to work was at least easier with Lil’ Chica than with Lil’ O. I think that is largely due to it just being the second time around. My maternity leave with Lil’ Chica, while it of course had its ups and downs, was smoother than with Lil’ O. I think I realized more of what I needed to do (and not do) to stay sane. As a result, I did things like getting out of the house more and caring about mess and schedules less. I also mostly persevered with breastfeeding – more details to come – and that made it easier to be mobile than with Lil’ O. (Since I had early supply issues with him that the doctors were concerned by, he got a bottle really early, never looked back, and I took to pumping. Being tied to a pump is extremely limiting!!)

So, going back to work…I’m happy to report that I did pretty well. Monday was the most difficult day, but I put aside my missing Lil’ Chica and really, really focused on the new assignment I’ll be spending my days on with work. I love a new challenge and it helped that I hadn’t been at the computer much during my leave. So, coming back to strategic thinking and writing felt refreshing. I did sneak some breaks to look at pictures of my little girl, though. She sure is a cutie. Each subsequent day this week got easier and I'm grateful that I already have assignments coming in and deadlines to meet, all of which will help keep me focused.