Juggling

Being a parent is hard.  Whether you are a single parent, a working parent or a stay-at-home parent the job is hard.  Parenthood is a constant juggling act of trying to fit it all in, get it all done and not screw up the important stuff.  I work full time and Brad works way more than full time which creates stressful situations when something happens outside of the norm.  Earlier this week I got the dreaded call.  The one that makes your heart sink and your stomache turn when you see it pop up on your  caller ID..."DAYCARE."  Usually they are just calling to tell me one of the boys had a little fall, they gave him some ice and he is fine, but sometimes you get the "So and So just doesn't seem to be feeling well" or "So and So threw up twice" or "So and So just isn't himself, says his tummy hurts and feels really warm."  When that happens you know that one of the kids has been kicked out of daycare for at least 24 hours (technically 24 hours after the fever stops, or whatever ailment subsides), which means I generally will be working from home for 1.5+ days.  Kids don't understand "busy season" or "deadline" or "mandatory meeting" all kids know is that they don't feel good and need someone to play the role of "baby mattress."  I luckily have a wonderful group at work that allows me to work from home when an illness strikes, unfortunately it always falls on me, as most people would frown on a surgeon working from home. 

How to keep baby busy when you have a conference call

For me working from home is super stressful.  While I KNOW my coworkers understand that I am home with a sick child and can't possibly be available 100% of the time, I feel like I need to be available 100% of the time to prove that I am actually working.   Over the years I have learned some tricks for actually getting a lot of work done.  First: get as much as you can done while your kid is sleeping.  Whether that be before they wake up in the morning, during nap time, or after they go to bed.  Second: Break the rules and bust out the big guns.  Water table in the house, sure!  (Semi) unsupervised painting, why not? Juice, just this once!  Third, try to remember that the little person in front of you is what is really important.