It was only a matter of time before Sarah would have to go back to work. But I guess I didn't realize that day that was once so far out in the future was suddenly here. Sarah knew the day was coming and had complete mixed emotions of returning to work, as I am sure, so many other mothers have. On one had she couldn't wait to get back to work. She craved adult interactions, a more regular schedule, our "usual routine," and of course some time away from hearing "Let it Go" from Frozen. Me on the other hand, had a different view on her going back to work. To me, it meant, back to reality with busier nights, more chores around the house, and less family time in general. It also meant that it was time for my paternity leave to commence. When we had our first daughter, Maya, Sarah took at lease 8 weeks of leave and then I took a couple weeks during the transition of her going back to work, to prolong sending Maya to my Aunt's for child care. With our second, Delaney, I was just starting a new job and still on probation with the Sheriff's Office. It also feel right during our busiest time of the year with Country USA and other various festivals. I only missed 2 and a half days from work for her birth and that was it. Honestly, looking back, it seems as though I barely remember Delaney's infant stages. Now, with Harper, I wanted to be sure to lend a helping hand as I did with Maya, so I took a total of 15 days of leave from work to spend time with the kids. I planed it out that I would take all my time after Sarah returns to work, to keep the kids out of child care. This past Thursday was my first day alone with Maya (4), Delaney (2), and Harper (7 wks), on top of a dog (female), and 2 cats (both female). Yup, that's right, if you add it all up that brings the tally to 6 girls and one lonely guy. I was both anxious and excited all in one.
My day began, just any other day for myself, but making my daily to do list the night before going to bed. My day looked pretty busy, which was a good thing, it meant that we would be on the go all day and little time for fights, tantrums, arguments, messes, broken/missing toys, punishments, etc. There was only one thing on my list that I questioned whether or not I would be able to check off by the end of the day.... and I'll let you guess which it was.
The girls woke up around their usual time of 6:45-7:00 and it was game time! I was up and at 'em. I fed both the older girls breakfast right away and had them watching a movie so I could start working on my to do list. Sarah fed Harper just before leaving for work. Knowing that Harper goes about 3 hours between feedings (+/- 10 minutes - no joke), she would need to eat around 8ish. When 8:00 rolled around I was right in the middle of paying bills, so I needed to rely on my big helper: Maya. She stepped up to the plate and help out with feeding Harper. Secret is, she absolutely
LOVES doing anything with Harper, whether it be carrying, feeding, dressing, bathing, or even just holder her. So she had no clue just how much she was helping me out by feeding her. To her, I was doing her a favor by
letting her feed Harper. She even said, "Thanks Daddy!" Imagine that!
With Maya having school at the YMCA at 12:30, I planned my workout to coincide with that to make our lives easier and minimize the running around to as little as possible. Our YMCA has an awesome drop-in child care service for members to utilize while the adults use the facilities. It is an awesome benefit and especially considering how cheap it is - plus our kids truly LOVE going there and playing and doing crafts and projects. I was scheduled to get in a 10 mile run that day, so instead of getting my butt out of bed at 4am, I figured I would take advantage of the Kid's Korner and bring the kids to the Y with me and just run on a treadmill. After some simple time crunching, I figured I would leave around 10:30 to have the kids in child care, and on a treadmill running by 11am in order to have enough to time to shower and get the kids out of child care to get Maya to her class (at the Y) by 12:30. It worked like a charm...Bingo-Bango.
After dropping Maya off at school, it was just me and the little 2 for the next few hours, until I had to pick Maya up from school at 2:45. After getting home, Harper was sound asleep, and Laney was asking to watch a movie....perfect! I put on Puss in Boots for Delaney, and tossed Harper in her swing and I actually was able to get a few minutes to myself to start prepping stuff for dinner and eat a lunch for myself.
Sarah was planning on being home no later than 4:30, but around 2:00 she called. It turned out they were busier then they anticipated and needed someone to stay a little later to help out. She called to see if I was indeed surviving and would be able to handle the evening hours as well, as she didn't think she would be home until after 6:30. Oh boy, I thought, but sure, I can handle this. All I needed to do was pick Maya up from school, give the kids a snack, get Maya to her first night of dance class, bring her waiver to participate, all while maintaining Harper's homeostasis. Sounded easy enough! So I told Sarah she can stay if she wanted, as we could use the extra cash. So, 2:45 came rolling around and I was on time for picking Maya up from school and we decided to pick up Mommy a special treat from the grocery store for her first day back to work. We were going to surprise her with "Make Your Own Sundae Night" after dinner. So, the four of us trucked on down to the local grocery store and I pushed Harper in a cart, while Maya and Delaney both pushed their own "Customer In Training" Kiddie Carts. We picked up some extra apples and carrots for the home, and then the girls each got to pick out their own toppings for the sundaes. I picked strawberries and mini angel food cake cups (since I know Sarah loves them). Maya picked Cool Whip and Sprinkles. Delaney picked chocolate syrup.
After getting home I gave the girls a quick snack before dance class and fed Harper her afternoon bottle. Before I realized it, it was almost time to get Maya to dance class. We quickly changed her into her dance outfit and for the 3rd time I loaded up my "Man-Van" and tucked the girls over to Maya's dance class. The class only ran a half hour and I brought our iPad to entertain Delaney, so the half hour came and went in the blink of an eye. Maya absolutely loved her dance class, but really, who would though otherwise? We were done and home around 6:15ish and the dinner was just about done cooking, as I had it set and ready to be done around 6:30. In the morning I prepped a simple Hawaiian Chicken Dinner in the crock pot. I set the table and before we knew it Mom and finally home. The day flew by, but left me with the confidence that I can handle the three of them again, with minimal problems.....so long as we have a full schedule.
Just to share some pictures, I'll fill y'all in on what we did the next few days. Friday I had SWAT training during the day and my cousin held their wedding ceremony that afternoon which Sarah and the girls attended while I was at training. We met up with each other later in the afternoon for the reception, which was at the same hall Sarah and I had our reception at. All three girls were well behaved and had a blast! It really made Sarah and I sit back and realize, how lucky we are to have three healthy, well behaved, beautiful girls, all on top of a caring and loving family.
On Saturday, our local YMCA held their annual "Healthy Kids Day," to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for kids in the valley. I brought Maya and Delaney there and met my parents there as Sarah and Harper went to her cousins wedding shower. The girls got to participate in obstacle courses, a mini NFL combine, see fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, race cars, a police bomb sniffing K-9, numerous projects, and anything and everything a kid could possible want to do or see.
