Before Baby vs. After Baby
I survived my first week back to work! barely. There were so many new things added to an already busy schedule.
Before Audrey, my daily schedule looked something like this:
5am - wake up, eat breakfast, go to the gym/walk/ride bike/pilates with DVD, make my lunch, pack my bags for the day (which included any lesson plans or materials for the day)
6:45am - say bye to Jeff and drive to work
7am - arrive at work and prep in my classroom
8:00am - 3:00pm - contracted length of my teaching day
3:00pm - plan in my classroom or attended any mandatory meetings
between 6 or 7pm - go home or run errands
7pm - fix dinner
8pm - Jeff comes home
10pm - go to sleep for the night
Now with Audrey here and daycare added to the mix, here's my new schedule:
2am - on some mornings, Audrey feeds
5am - I wake up and coincidentally, Audrey is ready to feed again. I also get her dressed for the day and then she goes back to sleep
5:15ish am - continue getting ready which now includes: eat breakfast, make my lunch, pack my school bags, thaw frozen milk and set out for Jeff to put in bottles for daycare, pump and then sanitize pump accessories in order to take with me to school, go for a bike ride (if time... I only did that once this past week.)
7am - kiss Audrey and Jeff goodbye and leave for school
7:15am - plan in my classroom
8:00am - 3:00pm - contracted length of my teaching day
3:00pm - pump OR attend mandatory staff meetings
* I should be pumping three times during my school day since I miss 3 feedings with Audrey while I'm away. I have yet to figure out how to do this discreetly... My classroom is the most private place for me to pump but during the school day, students could easily peek in through the window. I guess my body has managed well enough to wait until 3pm. I'm just hoping this schedule does not diminish my milk supply...*
3:15pm - plan in my classroom (unless I'm still in a meeting)
between 4:15 and 4:30pm - leave work, taking nothing but my purse and pump home. That means, I have to get ALL my prep done before school or after I pump. That's been a challenge but thankfully I've been able to stay focused and get everything done.
* When we have staff meetings, I'm contracted to stay until 4:30pm.... That means, I will not be able to plan after school in my classroom. Staff meetings are only twice a month but still...*
5pm - pick Audrey up from daycare, talk to Denise about her day, gather bottles and/or any soiled clothes
5:30ish - arrive at home, cuddle Audrey for a short spell and then put her in her Winnie the Pooh bouncer in the kitchen while I work as quickly as possible to label and freeze the milk pumped at work, wash and sanitize all bottles and pumping accessories, and get dinner started (if it's a crockpot meal)
* I am so blessed to have such a wonderfully behaved baby! Audrey can sit and play with her Winnie the Pooh rattle on her bouncer (which she just yesterday is now able to reach and GRAB - not just whack!) during the duration of my kitchen chores. If she's especially content, I also have time to do a load of laundry and change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable!*
6pm onward - play with Audrey and feed her as needed
6pm OR 7pm - Audrey takes a quick evening nap. So does Meg!
around 8pm - bath time for Audrey and the beginning of our bedtime ritual, Jeff comes home, dinner is ready in the crockpot OR Jeff helps me get dinner started while I finish up with Audrey's bath
* Audrey has been falling asleep for the night as early as 9:20pm this past week! She'll then sleep until 2am or on a few lucky nights make it all the way until 5am!*
around 10pm - go to sleep for the night
The challenge for me is figuring out when I can run my errands, which is mainly my grocery shopping for the week. For this past week, I was able to do that Friday before picking Audrey up. I left work early (around 3:30pm) with my bucket full of T.E.'s and other lesson planning materials to work on this weekend. Since I can plan over the weekend, it's easy for me to leave early on Fridays.
Jeff asked why I don't just take Audrey with me to run those errands. I told him that after 8 hours apart from my baby, I don't want to be carting her around town running errands... I want to get her home and cuddle the heck out of her!!! So errands will have to find their way into my weekend schedule when I don't feel as guilty about carting Audrey here and there since I get to see her all day anyway.
All in all, the transition back to work was much easier than I thought it would be. I have a great group of students this year, although they are quite chatty. By Thursday, after four days of warning students to raise their hand, etc., I handed out 10 behavior notices (in a class of 22) for students talking out of turn. The surprising thing is that all those notices came back the next day signed - at least these students are responsible! Friday, I threatened to take away their 15 minute P.E. at the end of the day if they interrupted me during our Science lessons (we are SOOOoooo behind in Science and they have a benchmark test coming up on Thursday - yikes). They earned their P.E. but then proceeded to socialize with each other as they packed up to line up to go outside so because of their socializing, they really only had about 7 minutes of P.E. - haha! Hopefully they are getting they are getting the point!
Chatting issue aside, it's great to be back in the classroom. It's especially great that I can just pick up from where my sub left off. Even with the room arrangement - she set it up different from what I'm used to but I like it and I'm running with it. It's a good thing I love my job so much - otherwise, I think I'd be so miserable leaving Audrey behind!
At school, I have the super happy picture of Audrey from daycare in my classroom on my desk. Sometimes I get so caught up in the day and my teaching that when I look at her, I literally have to remind myself that I'm a mom and have a beautiful daughter to go home to! It's such a change from my pre-baby days, when I was so focused on myself and getting my job done well. Now there's another little life that rivals myself and my job for my top priority in life. And I'm ok with that *wink*
Before Audrey, my daily schedule looked something like this:
5am - wake up, eat breakfast, go to the gym/walk/ride bike/pilates with DVD, make my lunch, pack my bags for the day (which included any lesson plans or materials for the day)
6:45am - say bye to Jeff and drive to work
7am - arrive at work and prep in my classroom
8:00am - 3:00pm - contracted length of my teaching day
3:00pm - plan in my classroom or attended any mandatory meetings
between 6 or 7pm - go home or run errands
7pm - fix dinner
8pm - Jeff comes home
10pm - go to sleep for the night
Now with Audrey here and daycare added to the mix, here's my new schedule:
2am - on some mornings, Audrey feeds
5am - I wake up and coincidentally, Audrey is ready to feed again. I also get her dressed for the day and then she goes back to sleep
5:15ish am - continue getting ready which now includes: eat breakfast, make my lunch, pack my school bags, thaw frozen milk and set out for Jeff to put in bottles for daycare, pump and then sanitize pump accessories in order to take with me to school, go for a bike ride (if time... I only did that once this past week.)
7am - kiss Audrey and Jeff goodbye and leave for school
7:15am - plan in my classroom
8:00am - 3:00pm - contracted length of my teaching day
3:00pm - pump OR attend mandatory staff meetings
* I should be pumping three times during my school day since I miss 3 feedings with Audrey while I'm away. I have yet to figure out how to do this discreetly... My classroom is the most private place for me to pump but during the school day, students could easily peek in through the window. I guess my body has managed well enough to wait until 3pm. I'm just hoping this schedule does not diminish my milk supply...*
3:15pm - plan in my classroom (unless I'm still in a meeting)
between 4:15 and 4:30pm - leave work, taking nothing but my purse and pump home. That means, I have to get ALL my prep done before school or after I pump. That's been a challenge but thankfully I've been able to stay focused and get everything done.
* When we have staff meetings, I'm contracted to stay until 4:30pm.... That means, I will not be able to plan after school in my classroom. Staff meetings are only twice a month but still...*
5pm - pick Audrey up from daycare, talk to Denise about her day, gather bottles and/or any soiled clothes
5:30ish - arrive at home, cuddle Audrey for a short spell and then put her in her Winnie the Pooh bouncer in the kitchen while I work as quickly as possible to label and freeze the milk pumped at work, wash and sanitize all bottles and pumping accessories, and get dinner started (if it's a crockpot meal)
* I am so blessed to have such a wonderfully behaved baby! Audrey can sit and play with her Winnie the Pooh rattle on her bouncer (which she just yesterday is now able to reach and GRAB - not just whack!) during the duration of my kitchen chores. If she's especially content, I also have time to do a load of laundry and change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable!*
6pm onward - play with Audrey and feed her as needed
6pm OR 7pm - Audrey takes a quick evening nap. So does Meg!
around 8pm - bath time for Audrey and the beginning of our bedtime ritual, Jeff comes home, dinner is ready in the crockpot OR Jeff helps me get dinner started while I finish up with Audrey's bath
* Audrey has been falling asleep for the night as early as 9:20pm this past week! She'll then sleep until 2am or on a few lucky nights make it all the way until 5am!*
around 10pm - go to sleep for the night
The challenge for me is figuring out when I can run my errands, which is mainly my grocery shopping for the week. For this past week, I was able to do that Friday before picking Audrey up. I left work early (around 3:30pm) with my bucket full of T.E.'s and other lesson planning materials to work on this weekend. Since I can plan over the weekend, it's easy for me to leave early on Fridays.
Jeff asked why I don't just take Audrey with me to run those errands. I told him that after 8 hours apart from my baby, I don't want to be carting her around town running errands... I want to get her home and cuddle the heck out of her!!! So errands will have to find their way into my weekend schedule when I don't feel as guilty about carting Audrey here and there since I get to see her all day anyway.
All in all, the transition back to work was much easier than I thought it would be. I have a great group of students this year, although they are quite chatty. By Thursday, after four days of warning students to raise their hand, etc., I handed out 10 behavior notices (in a class of 22) for students talking out of turn. The surprising thing is that all those notices came back the next day signed - at least these students are responsible! Friday, I threatened to take away their 15 minute P.E. at the end of the day if they interrupted me during our Science lessons (we are SOOOoooo behind in Science and they have a benchmark test coming up on Thursday - yikes). They earned their P.E. but then proceeded to socialize with each other as they packed up to line up to go outside so because of their socializing, they really only had about 7 minutes of P.E. - haha! Hopefully they are getting they are getting the point!
Chatting issue aside, it's great to be back in the classroom. It's especially great that I can just pick up from where my sub left off. Even with the room arrangement - she set it up different from what I'm used to but I like it and I'm running with it. It's a good thing I love my job so much - otherwise, I think I'd be so miserable leaving Audrey behind!
At school, I have the super happy picture of Audrey from daycare in my classroom on my desk. Sometimes I get so caught up in the day and my teaching that when I look at her, I literally have to remind myself that I'm a mom and have a beautiful daughter to go home to! It's such a change from my pre-baby days, when I was so focused on myself and getting my job done well. Now there's another little life that rivals myself and my job for my top priority in life. And I'm ok with that *wink*