where's grandma?
The nanny texted this morning to say that she has bronchitis and was hoping to just sleep today. "If you can't find someone to take care of them, you can bring them to my house." What, so they can watch movie after movie while you sleep? Hmm, no. With such little notice, there weren't a lot of options. But fortunately it's Monday, a coach day for me. Since I wasn't planning to be in the classroom anyway, we decided I'd take them with me for the morning. They did pretty well, playing with pattern blocks and relishing having computers to themselves (though the headphones kept falling off). They joked with the kindergarteners at lunch, which pleased me. The boys got furious when I said "they're tiny" to a new staff member asking the triplets question. "WE'RE NOT TINY, WE'RE MEDIUM!" Um, OK, Squirt.
The highlight of the morning was realizing that although I'd remembered Activities and Snacks and my work crap and my coffee, I did NOT have the diaper bag. Fortunately, Ellen managed to pee in the toilet (but let's not discuss the part where she pooped in her cloth diaper and since it didn't stick, I just dumped it, wiped her, turned the pre-fold inside out, and put it back on her. MOTHER OF THE YEAR!).
Part 2 of the plan was that James would work from home with them here for the afternoon nap/quiet time, and I would have a kidless afternoon back at work. Except he wasn't able to login from home so I, having the less-valuable leave (since we can plan any family stuff around my breaks), took the afternoon off.
I need to figure out how not to be jealous of his Lunches Out, Conversations With Grownups, and Unaccompanied Bathroom Trips, because in one short week, this will be my life. Of course, it's different when it's unexpected, and when I have so much to do within the next 4 days (report cards are due in 45 hours, and I just made the class re-do their final this morning, yeehaw!). For the summer, I have Lists and a whole Google Calendar started for our Plans, and I'm actually looking forward to most of it. But it's also going to be even more important than ever to figure out some self-care and interactions with adults. This will be the first summer that there's NO built-in break: the boys don't nap anymore at all, and they don't have school. Their 30-minute "Quiet" Time may need to get a bit longer.
I realize I'm lucky:
- to have a good job at all
- to have a job I can take kids to if needed
- to have time off if I need that
- to have a partner who shares the responsibility (even if his leave is more precious)
- to have kids who generally get along and behave spectacularly well in public
- etc.
That doesn't make this scramble any less frustrating or exhausting.
The highlight of the morning was realizing that although I'd remembered Activities and Snacks and my work crap and my coffee, I did NOT have the diaper bag. Fortunately, Ellen managed to pee in the toilet (but let's not discuss the part where she pooped in her cloth diaper and since it didn't stick, I just dumped it, wiped her, turned the pre-fold inside out, and put it back on her. MOTHER OF THE YEAR!).
Part 2 of the plan was that James would work from home with them here for the afternoon nap/quiet time, and I would have a kidless afternoon back at work. Except he wasn't able to login from home so I, having the less-valuable leave (since we can plan any family stuff around my breaks), took the afternoon off.
I need to figure out how not to be jealous of his Lunches Out, Conversations With Grownups, and Unaccompanied Bathroom Trips, because in one short week, this will be my life. Of course, it's different when it's unexpected, and when I have so much to do within the next 4 days (report cards are due in 45 hours, and I just made the class re-do their final this morning, yeehaw!). For the summer, I have Lists and a whole Google Calendar started for our Plans, and I'm actually looking forward to most of it. But it's also going to be even more important than ever to figure out some self-care and interactions with adults. This will be the first summer that there's NO built-in break: the boys don't nap anymore at all, and they don't have school. Their 30-minute "Quiet" Time may need to get a bit longer.
I realize I'm lucky:
- to have a good job at all
- to have a job I can take kids to if needed
- to have time off if I need that
- to have a partner who shares the responsibility (even if his leave is more precious)
- to have kids who generally get along and behave spectacularly well in public
- etc.
That doesn't make this scramble any less frustrating or exhausting.