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I don’t think I realized how much my work was my social network until now. Here I am on leave. Everything is wonderful, and frightening, and new. NewGirl is precious, but isn’t much of a conversationalist and also sleeps a lot. I have so many questions to ask my fellow mom friends, so many thoughts to share, and, surprisingly, the time to do it. So why are all my friends so busy with their jobs?
I feel I may need to start sending Outlook meeting invites just to keep up a social network. I’m not feeling isolated. Lots of friends and family have been coming to visit, and NewGirl and I get around, but I feel I’ve lost all ability to have spontaneous social conversation. I’ve heard that it’s tough for Moms to who plan to return to work to join neighborhood “Mommy and Me” groups while on leave because they tend to be geared toward SAHMs who are in it for the long haul. Do any of you have experience joining moms groups just temporarily while on maternity leave or have other thoughts about keeping up a social network while on leave?
They say “no news is good news,” but as far as my new kindergartener is concerned I don’t buy it. He’s now in the middle of his 3rd full week of school and I have yet to hear a peep from his teacher. My daughter, on the other hand, is in the toddler room at the child care center – she’s been there since she was an infant, and I still get a daily sheet that tells me (in great detail) about all of her bodily functions. My toddler’s teachers are gracious when I call them to check in on her day and full of details at pick-up. Since there’s no daily sheet to speak of in kindergarten and I pick my son up from an after-school program, I’ve had to rely on him to tell me about his day’s experience. Here’s what I’ve learned thus far: they have strawberry milk in kindergarten. This, apparently, is the most exciting – or at least memorable – part of his day. I’m not sure I can wait until parent-teacher conferences to find out how my son is doing in his new school. One of my friends suggests that I volunteer in the classroom to get a sense of what’s going on; another says I should e-mail the teacher weekly. HELP! How can I narrow this information gap?
We must take hundreds of pictures of CommuterGirl and our dog every month. For every good picture, we probably get five blurry ones. But, that’s what I love about the digital camera — you can take as many shots as you need to get it just right. I dutifully download everything to the computer…and do nothing else. CommuterDad and I have family spread out all of the country, in fact the world, who are always eager to see new pictures. Sending them as attachments is very cumbersome; I’ve tried a couple of the photo sites, but none of them have thrilled me. And I haven’t found one that would allow us to share the video clips either.
How do you share your digital pictures and videos? Any advice on great photo sharing sites?
OK, so what’s wrong with me? I can’t believe how much energy I have. I’m sleeping in two hour stints, with an hour between for feeding NewGirl and getting her back to sleep. I’ve found it impossible to take the advice to “sleep when the baby sleeps” during the day. And yet, when people ask how exhausted I must be as a new parent, I must admit, I’m not. I’m sure it’s a combination of a very easy recovery from labor and delivery together with pure adrenaline. But I’m happy to be on the phone with family, friends, and even colleagues. I’m walking up a storm around town, and I’m feeling great.
I’m sure it’s just “new baby high,” and I’m bound to come crashing down sometime, but for now I feel like the energizer bunny. Did anyone else experience this same adrenaline rush? If so, when did it all change?
Am I the only one with recall fatigue? Yet another toy recall announced, and I’m just not sure how much I can care anymore. The first big recall was announced, and I checked our house for all the products on the list. Miraculously, I found none. The second recall notice came, and a little less frazzled, I did a quick survey. After all, my kids are beyond the stage of mouthing their toys. Now a third recall, and I barely have the wherewithal to care. It’s terrible, I know. My children’s safety really does come first. But is anyone else finding the sheer volume of recall announcements somewhat numbing?
The latest craze in our house is dance parties. CommuterGirl really knows how to get her groove on…and her Mommy and Daddy aren’t too bad either. We take over the whole house dancing and jumping…the dog even gets in on the action now and then. Sometimes, it even extends to the car — although being strapped into a car seat does put a little bit of a crimp in CommuterGirl’s moves. My favorite part of the party is at the end of each song when CommuterGirl takes a bow! We like to dance to Dan Zanes, Jack Johnson, and recently Bruce Springsteen. I’d love to add some other kid-friendly music to the mix. Who is your favorite dance party musician?
Hi all. I’m still on cloud nine, with an unexpected amount of energy. So I figured I’d share a brief overview of our birth story.
First, so much for that induction date my doctor scheduled. Two weeks before I was scheduled to be induced, I went in for what I thought was a fairly routine ultrasound. Turns out my amniotic fluid was low and they sent me right away to Labor and Delivery. What a whirlwind! My husband wasn’t with me, I had forgotten my cell phone that day, and was just kind of shocked that I was supposed to leave the exam room, walk down the block into the hospital to have my baby. I used the phone at the reception desk and after three tries, finally tracked NewDad down. He met me at the hospital where they started an induction as soon as he arrived. True to form, NewDad remembered everything he needed to bring and then some – including the list of names we were considering.
They started the induction that night, I got a little sleep, and by the next morning, everything was in full gear. Except for some hiccups with the epidural, everything really went quite smoothly. NewGirl’s head is very small, and my body thanks her for my resulting easy recovery.
I would share more specifics, but apparently I don’t remember the labor all that well, because every time I try to tell the story, NewDad says that I’m so inaccurate about the timetable, the details, etc, it’s as if I weren’t there. Am I alone, did anyone else experience their labor and delivery as an out of body experience?
New Girl’s here!
Just a quick note to announce New Girl’s arrival. She’s happy and healthy, and we’re elated. A nice and compact 6 ½ lbs, with lots of hair and a sweet demeanor. I’ll hope to catch up on blogging soon, but right now I’m going to stare at my sleeping baby for another few hours.
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