Life as a Working Mom

A week before I went back to teaching full-time, a friend of mine dropped by with a new magazine for me, "The Working Mother" it was called and the pages were filled with photos of beautifully dressed women dropping off their perfectly dressed children to beautiful daycare centers with smiling teachers and well-behaved classmates, so they can go to work in dignified offices with other beautifully manicured people.

I threw the magazine away.

Life as a working mother has not been that easy for me. Most days, I come home feeling a little more like this...

The first few days of pre-school/ daycare were a bit hard on all of us. Abby was SO excited to be going to preschool, and was thrilled that we found a preschool with a daycare so she can go to the same school as Isaac. Isaac screamed and yelled and sobbed when I dropped him off, but for the first few days, Abby's maternal instincts set in and she doted over him all day long. Her teachers laughed at how protective she was of him - insisting on feeding him every meal or snack provided, reading him books and laying down next to him at naptime, and holding his hand whenever they walk anywhere new. I think her need to look out for her kid brother softened the whole transition for her.

Yeah, well - that wore off. Now Abby is the one who screams and yells and begs and pleads when I drop them off. This of course, freaks out Isaac who was doing pretty well. I find myself crying every morning as I walk away from my kids both as they are crying and begging for me to stay.

Don't get me wrong, they have a great time and love their school - Abby jabbers on and on and on about all the new friends she's making and things she is learning. The drop-offs are just a little rough. Here's proof of her happy little face at the end of the school day.

To help with this, I've decided that each afternoon when I pick them up, we'll do something fun.

Ice cream from Paces is always a popular choice. We also like to go "exploring" together - through my old high school, sampling the water from every single water fountain we can find, visiting my classroom, playing at parks, etc. Just spending a few minutes of quality mommy and kid time has become a ritual I look forward to all day long.

The other day when I picked her up, Abby was REALLY excited to tell me that they had the "Nummiest twreat EVEWR!!!" at preschool that day and she had saved a piece for me. Then she proudly held up a ziplock bag containing a teeny, tiny little piece of a rice crispy treat.

Her teachers explained that she had told them, "My mommy has to wowrk awll day wlong today, and hewr students awr too big fowr snack time, so she nevewr gets any snacks. I'm going to save hewr some as a speciawl supwrise." I thought it was the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. I know it was nearly impossible for her to not gobble up that last bite.

So, we're all getting used to the adjustment of me working full time. It has been rough, I will admit. But I love my students, and am getting better at balancing my time. My children are growing more independent, as illustrated by the final story of this posting. (Sorry, there are no photos for this one, you'll understand why in a minute.)

On Fridays, the kids stay at home with Grandma until lunch time, then Ben comes home for the rest of the afternoon. I guess the kids were playing in the backyard by themselves when Ben came out to find a scene quite common for our yard - Isaac pushing his little bike around the backyard, as happy as can be. Until he looked a little closer and saw Isaac beaming a little too hard about the "Wittle Bwrown Balls" he had filled up the entire seat container of his bike with. Ben opened it up to see it chock full of...you guessed it - BUNNY POOP! Isaac had been carrying it around by the handfuls, decorating each and every one of his favorite outdoor toys with a small pile of the wonderful stuff.

So glad I wasn't home for that one. But I can pretty much guarantee that explains the grainy diapers I changed Saturday morning. UGGHH!