Mom On The Run

I had a bad week at work this week – and I’m going to leave it at that. Reiterating it all to the whole blogosphere isn’t going to change what happened.

Its weeks like this that make me wonder if being away from my kids at work all day is really worth it. If Rob’s work doesn’t ship us out to another continent so we can be together then should we downgrade our home so that I can stay home with the kids? How much would we have to downgrade? A 2-bedroom apartment? Would I be any happier? Is a bad day with the kids worse than a bad day at the office? Am I jumping the gun ’cause I’m pee’d off? I know that when I get home tonight and I’m enjoying playing dress-up with the kids, or out for a walk with them that all of the stress from this week will reside, but in the mean time I’m fuming because of the things that have happened. And I also know that after a bad weekend with the kids I’m longing for Monday morning.

Hmmmm. just thinking about the upcoming Long Weekend that I get to spend with the two most wonderful human beings ever created is already making me feel better. It’s funny how our kids have a way of doing that for us isn’t it? They seem to make all of the gray skies disappear and replace them with sunshine! When my husband and I fist began dating he had a car that he bought second hand. On it was a bumper sticker. It said:

I originally thought the sticker meant that in comparison to the issues kids dealt out, other “crisis” were small. But now the sticker has taken on new meaning for me. Now it means that the happiness I derive from my kids makes any crisis seem insignificant, that my kids are the most important thing to me.

You can slap my ass and call me Sally, but I can handle it. My days are sunny because of my kids, not because of my work!

Wouldn’t these two little cuties make your days sunny too?

PS – Wow! 3 posts within 24 hrs – that must be a record of some sort for me!

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Yes my friends, yes it is. I thought I’d never say it – but yes, some babies can sleep too well. Brooke’s cold/ear infection/teething has cleared up thanks to a little TLC and antibiotics. We then resorted back to the cry-it-out method of getting her to sleep through the night again, which resulted in only one bad night with about 10 min of crying – now she’s sleeping through the night! Yay! Unfortunately there’s this one little detail. She’s sleeping so so so so very soundly that she doesn’t even wake up to poo. She’s woken up not once, not twice, but three mornings this week absolutely covered in diarrhea. I mean covered! I have three yucky sleepers soaking in a bucket to prove it! Ick! Lucky for me it was Daddy Rob who went in to wake her up each morning this week.

NOTE: The diarrhea is from her antibiotic.

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My post earlier this week was far too serious, so today I’m going to take the edge off… Today I rifled through my purse looking for my wallet. I didn’t find the wallet, but instead I found:

A bikini – size 3T
A pair of infant shoes – size 2
Dora The Explorer
Cordless Mouse
iPod Nano
2 Healthcards and immunization records
Makeup bag
Umbrella
2 ½ eaten Chicken McNuggets
French Fries
An empty sippy cup
2 Kool Aid Singles
Motorola KRAZR cell phone with a dead battery
Cheque Book
Tons of coupons and stray bits of paper
Sun Visor

Ummm.. Do you think it might be time for me to clean out my purse? What do you keep in your purse?

PS – I have a bone to pick with y’all.. How come none of you nominated me for the Hot Blogger Calendar? Aren’t I sexy?

ME!

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My hubby travels a lot for work. That’s no secret. In the coming months it will increase, to the point of being home for a week, gone for a week. When I was a SAHM it was very hard on me. It was lonely, depressing and stressful. But now that I’m back to work I find that it’s EXTREMELY hard on me. Although it’s nice to have a daily break from the kids and to see other adults, I find it very stressful not having back-up childcare for the girls. I’ve written before that I’ve taken 4 days off of work in order to care for sick kids since I returned to work a short 6 weeks ago. The other part that I wonder about is the emotional toll this puts on the girls – One week Daddy is home, the next he’s gone, being shuffled to daycare each day etc. I know that it bothers Sierra because it’s reflected in her eating habits. While Rob is away she doesn’t eat, then gets sick. Rob arrived home on Saturday night, and yesterday Sierra ate like a pig – her week long hunger strike was over.

This past weekend I helped a friend pack up to move. She’s relocating herself and her 2 young children to Australia for a few years while her hubby works there. Another friend of mine has been living in Calgary for a month and will be home at the end of September to pack up her home to relocate permanently to Calgary. If they can do it, why can’t I?

When the opportunity to move to Ireland first presented itself to me in January I was scared. Moving a 6 month old and 2.5 yr old scared the crap out of me, saying good-bye to the home we created and a job I love also scared me. I said No. That was then. 8 months later Rob’s travel has become ridiculous. I’ve returned to the job I thought I loved – yet something in me has changed, my priorities are different, my life is different, I’m different. My house is full of stuff – that’s all it is – just things. I’ve learned that a home is where ever my family is – ALL of my family, my kids, my dog AND my hubby. Couches, beds, toys etc are replaceable, but our time together as a family is not. I told Rob this weekend that if the opportunity came along for us to be together every night and every weekend that we should take it. Our marriage feels strained, something has to give. Rob confirmed that there are always opportunities to be together through his work. Only they aren’t here in Canada. They would require temporary relocations. I told him to enquire about it – I’m finally ready. This week he’s going to get the ball rolling for us to be a family again. My heart is in my throat because I’m so scared of the unknown, but another part of me is feeling relieved and content.

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I’m home today. Not because I’m on vacation, not because I’m sick and not because my office is closed. I’m home today with a sick little baby. This is the 4th day I’ve taken off because of the kids illnesses since I returned to work 6 weeks ago. I’ve also come in to work an hour late 3 times as I’ve let sick kids sleep in before bringing them to daycare in order to try and avoid having to keep the kids home. Unfortunately every time the kids have gotten sick this summer have been during Rob’s business trips. This leaves me as their only care giver. The only one who can stay home. The first few days I took off were no big deal at work, but now I’m thinking that it’s starting to look really bad, starting to reflect in my quality of work because the days these kids have gotten sick have not been convenient when it comes to the projects that I’ve been working on. I’m at a loss over how I should handle these events.
Yesterday I was called at work at 1:40 pm and was told that Brooke was running a fever for the second day in a row and that I needed to come get her and that she needed to stay home ’cause she has to be fever free for 24 hrs before returning. After I picked Brooke up I brought her to the Dr. He looked her over and found that she was getting over a cold (she’s been coughing and sniffling for 10 days), and her fever is due to the beginnings of an ear infection. He prescribed some antibiotics for her and she should be completely healthy by the end of this weekend.
How do you juggle work and looking after sick kids? Do you have back up childcare? A family friend who can pick up the kids? This mom doesn’t know what to do – especially when my hubby is out of the continent alot for work. I feel so bad about how this has been affecting my work, but really, what’s a mom to do?

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Jonathon Knight

I’m still a blockhead – always have been, always will! Long live NKOTB! Yes, you read that right – I LOVE New Kids On The Block!

Back in tha day my favourite ‘Kid’ was Jonathon. Donnie was too rough looking for me, Jordan too feminine, Joey too young and Danny too mature. But Jon? He was (and still is) just right. He’s got the right stuff baby! And thanks to my bestest friend, Kimmie, I’m going to be able to re-live my youth in September! I’ll be swooning all over Jon when he comes to Toronto to perform at the Air canada Center. I’ll be sitting dancing in our box seats and having the best time ever! I can’t wait to wave my hand high above my head while singing along to “Hangin’ Tough”.

“I’ll Be Loving You Forever” is my favourite NKOTB song:

Which of their songs is your favourite?

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