So I’ve officially been on maternity leave for just over 400 days…it’ll be 403 days when I return to work today. It’s sad. I’m sad. My husband is sad. Princess Peach? She’s not sad! She was sad to come home with me when we went for her daycare classroom visit last week! I was sad that she wasn’t sad about being there. Part of me wanted her to cry. Yup, so maybe I’m selfish, maybe it’s wrong for me to think that but couldn’t she have shed one tear? Whine? Anything? Instead she sat in the high chair, wearing a bib (she refuses to wear one at home) and ate her snack so nicely.
Anyways I’ve gone on a tangent again. Sorry. Over the past 400 plus days I’ve learned many lessons both good and bad.
1. I’m not a good housewife. I never thought I would be a good housewife really but when I was pregnant anticipating being off I pictured the baby napping for 2-3 hours and myself in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes and creating delicious meals. Well, when baby doesn’t like to nap or only likes to nap on you meals don’t happen. I’m ok with it.
2. I’m a lot calmer than I would have anticipated. I dont’ typically think of myself as a calm person. I am definitely calm and patient at work. Those kids have a way of putting me at ease. I can definitely be high-strung at times and let worrying get the best of me. Maybe it was my horrific labour and delivery that made me realize I have no control? I’m not sure exactly what it was but faced with many situations this year I handled them with ease (to say so myself). First there was my traumatic labour and delivery, then there was the trauma around breastfeeding and the new mom guilt, then I was hospitalized for a burst ovarian cyst, then Princess Peach was hospitalized for a virus and a UTI, a move, a new house, a new car, The Hubster going to the ER with a busted lip, new job for me, new job for The Hubster and daycare for Princess Peach. All of these things and I didn’t even take a Xanex to get through it.
3. A little person requires lots of stuff. I know babies need lots of gear and I tried very hard this year not to buy tons of stuff. Lots of baby stuff is short-lived which I knew so I didn’t invest in a lot of it. No matter how hard I have tried to cut down on stuff my house seems to be overrun by STUFF. Baby stuff. Packing to go anywhere with baby requires lots of stuff and stuff for different situations. What happens if it rains, if she happens to leak through her diaper, what if she pukes? what if, what if, what if……..little pepole=lots of stuff!
4. I take dressed Princess Peach VERY seriously. Some people might disagree with me but I take dressing my baby since birth very seriously. I want her to look her best at all times. Sure, maybe she’s gone out of the house with some food on her face, but really who hasn’t? She always needs to match and have some hair accessory in her hair. At first it was a hair band or clip but now her hair is curly and thick and those don’t cut it anymore. She now sports the Pebbles with a pony in the middle of her head! Anyways, I don’t like her leaving the house with her pj’s on because I don’t so why should she? She needs to be matching the clean and obviously cute 🙂 That’s the easy part!
5. Don’t read baby books. I have mentioned this before but I started off reading some books after Princess Peach arrived but they drove me crazy so I packed them away. Working with children and being aware of developmental milestones I know every baby/child progresses at their own speed and I didn’t need to get paranoid or worried if she was late or hadn’t reached a specific milestone yet. So I let her be herself and enjoyed and relished in each milestone. Which brings me to number 6.
6. Please don’t say my baby is advanced. Since Princess Peach has arrived just over a year ago I have probably been told she is “advanced” oh maybe 1, 000,000,000,000 times. Seriously. I hate it. At first I didn’t know how to respond to it. Makes me feel awkward. People actually asked me “what i was doing” with her which was probably the same things they were doing with their kids. I’ve probably offended a few people too when I have curtly told them I don’t like calling her “advanced” and maybe mumbled a few other comments along with it. That being said, Princess Peach is who she is and she hit some milestones VERY early and others on the earlier side of what’s considered “average”. But to me, I wasn’t doing anything special and she was just being her 🙂 (phew….I feel better now that I wrote this)
7. The love I feel for this little person is mind-blowing. It still astonishes me daily how much I can love her. How can you go from not meeting anyone and within a second of meeting them love them more than the whole wide world and back again (right Auntie Beige?). Within seconds you want to give them anything and everything and make sure that their life is absolutely perfect. That really is true love.
8. I absolutely love being a mother. I really didn’t doubt that for a second. I’ve loved kids for as long as I can remember and being a mom was always in the cards for me. I’m just so blessed to have been blessed with the most amazing child who is entertained by me doing the chicken dance or playing in a Pampers box. We have the best time together and although our time now will be limited I know it will still be as special.
Ok, so now I may or may not be crying. So as my tears are being wiped away my list of lessons will end at 8 although I’m sure I could fill pages and pages with everything that I’ve learned so far and everything I will be learning at Princess Peach continues to grow.
And with me pressing the “publish” button on this entry I will be running out of the house to get to my first day of work! Wish me luck 🙂
Going back to work is the worst, but maybe a little easier since you had so much time with her. I’m going back to work after my second child in less than 2 weeks 🙁 I did get an extra 2 weeks with him by using vacation so he will be 14 weeks – still so young 🙁 Anyway, good luck today!
This post is awesome. Hope your first day back goes well!
Well, I totally agree on the housewife point! I don’t have a baby but I can tell you that right away. I have no shame saying that the cleaning lady is the best thing ever and I have no interest or skills whatsoever in cleaning, ironing, cooking. Hopefully I bring something else valuable to the ones living with me.
And for the record, I live how Princess Peach is dressed! The matching bows and the shoes, etc. I know my kids will look like s*** because I look like s*** when I leave the house but it is nice to see well dressed kids!
And not sure she is advanced or not, but she for sure looks smart but the cutest thing is that how smily and happy she is.
Wow, good luck going back to work! That must be such an overwhelming feeling. I cannot imagine! Great list by the way. 🙂
Awww Renee, reading your post brought back a flood of memories of when my babies were still babies and I had to leave them to go back to work. Then I had the blessing of being able to be home with them when my baby boy was 7 mos. The bond that we developed by having that one on one time with each other was incredible and I felt just like you when he was so excited to go to pre-k. I wasn’t ready for him to go and I cried the WHOLE first day!! I hope your first day of work went well and you’re getting used to your new routine!
Hi Michelle! Thanks for your comment. I went to back last week and then my husband and baby start on Tuesday. This coming week will be a very new type of week for us! Today is all about getting prepared and organized so that we can enjoy tomorrow together. Have a great long weekend 🙂