Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The New Normal

Well, this is my third week back to work. As I suspected, the 8 hours a day that I'm at my job are the easy part. The insane amount of work and running around packed into my other waking hours? Not so much. Here's a peek at a typical day:

12:30 am: Cole is fussing. Pat him back to sleep.
12:45 am: No dice. Offer binky. Binky outrages him. Spend 20 minutes shushing and walking him back to sleep.
2:30 am: Cole poops. Loudly. Change diaper, nurse him back to sleep.
4:00 am: Cole hates his current swaddle. Switch from SwaddleMe to Woombie or vice versa. Pat back to sleep.
5:00 am: Alarm goes off. Nurse Cole and put him back in his bed.
5:15 am: Shower and make-up.
5:45 am: Wake Hubs. Head to the kitchen to finish making lunches I started making last night - add fresh fruit, beverages, etc. Fix Cole's bottles for the day.
6:10 am: Cole is crying. Attempt to get him back to sleep. He's all smiles. Guess he's up for the day. Change his diaper and set him up in the swing.
6:30 am: Get dressed and finish packing daycare bag.
6:45 am: Jake is up. He requests cereal, juice and a show to watch. 
7:00 am: Make myself a smoothie for my commute.
7:05 am: Throw in a load of diapers for their cold soak cycle.
7:10 am: Pack my pumping bag, lunch bag and work tote with my essentials for the day.
7:15 am: Load our 37 bags into the car.
7:25 am: Coats on kids, kids in car seats.
7:30 am: Drop off kids at sitter's house. Lament how tired I am. Goodbye kisses and hugs.
7:35 am: Enjoy smoothie and 25 minutes of quiet on the way to work.
8:00 am: Arrive at work. First pumping session of the day.
8:30 am: Work day officially starts.
9:00 am: The parent who scheduled an appointment with me is late, and when she does arrive, the meeting takes much longer than expected, which makes me late for my 10:00 meeting with the student support team.
10:20 am: Roll in to student support team meeting 20 minutes late. This meeting also runs over.
11:00 am: Eye the clock. Need to pump again but meeting hasn't concluded.
11:40 am: Meeting adjourns and I'm making a dash to my office when one of our agency partners tracks me down. A student of hers has procrastinated on a needed letter of recommendation. Can I write one by the end of the day? Sure, you got it.
11:50 am: Second pumping session of the day. Check email and voicemail.
12:15 pm: Phone call from main office. A child protective services caseworker is here and needs to meet with a student. Find the student and meet with the caseworker.
12:45 pm: STARVING. Going to grab lunch when colleague calls with a question about AP testing. Take my lunch to her office to discuss.
1:00 pm: Meet with a student about the financial aid award letters she has received from the schools she applied to. Track down our resident financial aid guru to answer some additional questions.
1:20 pm: Write requested letter of recommendation, return phone calls, follow up on loose ends for the day.
2:00 pm: Conduct pre-administration session with an AP class. Stay to hear their oral presentations on mad cow disease.
2:45 pm: Cell phone duty.
3:00 pm: Work day concludes.
3:15 pm: Pump as I drive home. Yes, it can be done and yes, both my hands are on the wheel.
3:30 pm: Stop at town recreation department to sign Jake up for preschool summer playground program.
3:50 pm: Make a quick stop at home to unload my bags, wash my pump parts and tidy up the disaster I left in my wake that morning.
4:00 pm: Pick up the kids. Lament how tired I am.
4:15: General chaos as we arrive home for the day. Unpack bags, play with Jake, nurse Cole, start diaper laundry on its hot wash cycle.
5:00 pm: Heat up defrosted freezer meal. Throw diapers in the dryer.
5:20 pm: Eat dinner with Jake while jiggling tired baby on my lap.
5:40 pm: Clean up from dinner.
6:00 pm: Bathe the boys and wrestle them into their jammies.
6:30 pm: Pace around with very tired baby and wish husband was home.
7:00 pm: Hubs arrives home.
7:05 pm: Nurse Cole before bed.
7:30 pm: Cole is sleeping. Iron outfit for tomorrow.
7:45 pm: Join the big boys for bedtime stories and songs.
8:00 pm: Jake is in bed. Finish cleaning up in kitchen and get a head start on packing lunches for tomorrow.
8:30 pm: Collapse on the couch with a brownie sundae and stare mindlessly at the TV for awhile.
8:45 pm: Fold and stuff clean diapers.
9:00 pm: Cole is crying. Do the old binky and patting routine to get him back to sleep.
9:15 pm: Wash face, brush teeth, pjs.
9:30 pm: Last pumping session of the day.
10:00 pm: Fall into bed. Surf Facebook for 3 minutes before passing out.
10:45 pm: Cole is crying. Shush, shush, pat, pat. OMG so tired.

Rinse and repeat 4 times. Is it Friday yet?