New Career

I’m definitely still in the process of adjusting to being home full-time, and I think I’ve had to come to terms with it being a “career change”.  I never wanted to think of being a stay-at-home mom as a job, but since Toby’s been born, I’ve realized it really is like being employed since it’s a lot of work.  A ton of work.  I don’t know how working moms do it – I have a hard enough time fitting everything into a day and I don’t go out of the house for 8-10 hours and have a commute to deal with.  The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is that being a parent is a 24/7 job.  You don’t get a “break” unless you work something out with your significant other or get a baby-sitter, and even then, you have to think “did I leave enough bottles?, “will he be easy to put down for a nap?”, etc.  It’s no joke when people tell you being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever have.  But I’ve learned very quickly it is the most worthwhile.  Toby and I are still working on a schedule, but each day gets a little easier.

We’ve started to play more the past couple weeks so instead of him napping all the time, I’ve encouraged him to stay up more during the day.  We do a lot of this:

And this:

And we’re practicing a lot more smiles, too:

 

If you asked me a month ago if I was happy being home, my answer would not have been that positive.  The first six weeks with a newborn are rough, but you eventually get through them.  Then the little person you gave birth to actually starts to interact with you more, making those sleepless nights and days of refusing to take naps more bearable.  Now I’m grateful every day I get to stay home with this little guy instead of being holed up in an office.  Sure, I miss the adult interaction and the extra money but seeing these smiles and hearing the little coos more than makes up for it :)