First Few Days at Work

Well I am now 2 full days into being a working Mom. I am sharing an office with a geophysicist, but it is only temporary as the office circuitry doesn't allow for adequate power to run a PC and a UNIX machine, so I will be moved in a few weeks to another office. The new office doesn't have a window, and comes along with two room mates. Colour me unimpressed.

The work, however, seems exciting and there is a lot to learn. There will be lots of opportunities for on the job training and perhaps even the possibility of a field trip or two. We will be sure to get established with Chance's morning routine before tackling any challenges though.

So far our mornings are like this: At 6:10 we wake up as a family. Cam showers and I change Chance's diaper and get him dressed, and start breakfast preparations (toaster set up, bananas chopped and cups of milk poured). By this time Cam is done dressing and we switch off, I go take my shower and Cam eats breakfast with Chance. While they are eating and cleaning up, I get myself ready and then wolf down a slice of toast and drink my milk just before heading out the door. We pack Chance's lunch and snacks and formula the night before, so it is as simple as pulling the lunch sack from the fridge. We leave the house at 7:00 and within 3 minutes we are at the day home door, a quick drop off and then we are parked and walking to the C-train platform within an additional 5 minutes. We arrive downtown around 7:35-7:45, depending on speed of train, and Cam has about a 5 minute walk to work and then Dani has another 5 minutes before she arrives at work. We both leave at 4:30 PM and head directly for our respective nearest C-train platforms and take the first train available. This means that sometimes we are on separate trains, but it is a much more efficient way of getting home because we don't have to worry about cramming 2 people onto the same train, it is easier to slip onto the packed trains if you are alone. Also this way if the train breaks down, hopefully at least one person will make it to the parking lot to pick up Chance from the day home. So far it has worked well and we both enjoy being there together to drop off and pick up Chance.

Well it is bed time again, already. The evenings really slip by quickly, with only 2 hours between Chance's bedtime and ours. Tonight he went to sleep a little later than usual, he seemed upset. I think the fact that he is at the day home and not together with me is sinking in, as he seemed quite clingy tonight, and wanted lots of holding and back rubbing before going to bed. We did not over indulge him, though, as we don't want him to get hooked on these methods for going to sleep. He cried for about 10 minutes, the whole time I felt a lot of guilt guilt guilt guilt. I am trying not to dwell on it too much. When Chance was born I felt guilty and over time I came to understand that guilt is not a productive emotion, it is destructive and sucks up energy faster than anything. Right now I need all the energy I've got, so guilt is not an option.