Can I Go Back To Work?!
I'm fairly certain that anyone that has dealt with a one year old + some change (16 months) knows that they have way more energy than we, as adults, do. Yesterday, our nanny was sick and I had no backup sitter...zero. I had a lot of office work, a job-site visit, and it was election day. I scrambled and loaded the sleepy kiddo into the car and took her to the office with me. She was pretty good for the ten minute ride to my office, then we arrived at the office...where there were people staring at her. Immediate "fake-shyness" ensued and she clung to me like a spider monkey. I finally get her into my office and she walks around touching every reachable surface. Then the "uh-uh-uh" pointing started...you know what I'm talking about. They know what they want, but they won't speak or tell you what they want, so you're pointing to everything and pronouncing the word, in hopes that they'll nod or say the word. No. Not gonna happen. Then she insisted on sitting on my lap and tapping the keyboard while I'm trying to send e.mails. Super productive Mommy mode, it was not. We lasted fifteen minutes.
Then I loaded the kiddo and my 69 year old co-worker into the Mom car for the 30 minute drive to Chugiak for the site visit. They were both very well behaved, but hungry...and did I mention that I had zero caffeine at this point? I stopped for a pink energy drink and had to buy one of them a rice krispie treat and the other one milk & donuts...which she didn't like. She threw the donuts all over the backseat, chugged the milk, and took a ten minute catnap.
Upon arriving at the job-site, she was excited to get out...then she realized that she had to get into the front pack. At least all of the welding, hammering, and general construction excitement kept her occupied for the thirty minute walk-around. I wouldn't normally take my child to the job-site, but I wasn't going to leave her in the car alone. :) She was pretty interested in my orange vest and hard hat - I'll have to get her one too.
Then I had to meet with my superintendent in his trailer, so I let her run free in there. She played with every power tool on the floor, tried to start the drill, and stole a roll of flagging tape...which she strung throughout the entire length of the trailer. I'm sure he was sad to see her leave. :)
I think she fell asleep on the way back to town, but I don't remember because I had a thirty minute phone conversation with an architect about blackened steel. Don't ask...it looks cool, but it's currently the bane of my existence. We dropped the old guy co-worker off at the office and headed to the polls to vote. As we arrive up the counter, Pickle lets a nice fart out and giggles (definitely our kid)...and I realize that her diaper is soaking wet. We carry on...do our job and vote for Alaska's future.
We finally arrive at home after our four hour jaunt of "to do's" and she's thrilled...running around and stripping off her skort. I take off her eighty pound diaper, she looks at me, smiles, and pees on the floor. OMG...this should've been an indication of how the rest of my afternoon was going to go.
Did I mention that my child won't eat or sleep for me? For the nanny, yes...all day long. For Mommy, no. I try to feed her, I get a loud "NO", with the pursed lips...over and over. So, she had six bites of egg whites and two mandarins - by the time we got that in, I called it a success. But then she snaps to attention and is drawn to the tv...I look up and it's that dreaded "Wiggles" show I've heard of?!??! She's so excited...clapping, dancing, jumping, and smiling. Who is this little person?! Anyway, not gonna lie...it kept her busy for twenty minutes while I cleaned up the pee mess, dishes, and eight-thousand toys.
After the weird "dudes in spandex" show, we try some laundry...she opens every cupboard in the laundry room, throws all of the dirty clothes into the hall, and picks up every single folded pile of CLEAN clothing and tosses it into the dirty clothes basket. I had to admit that was pretty smart and perhaps she was trying to be helpful...hahahaha. In between the dumping clean clothes into the basket, she discovered a bag of those dental floss/toothpick things (when did she get tall enough to reach the counter). Yep, dumped the entire bag out on top of the laundry and put almost every single one into her mouth. Daddy's going to be thrilled...he'll never know, we just dumped them back into the bag and put them away. :)
The rest of the afternoon went the same way...there were a lot of "NO's" from both of us, NO nap for either of us, and a lot of "I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow" sighs from me. I couldn't wait for Daddy and our "other kids" to get home, so I could pass her off to one of them. At four PM, I popped a beer, made dinner, and let her run around and undo everything I had tried to do. Finally, JoJo shows up to snuggle with Pickle and they both pass out...yeah. Dammit.
So - to my Mom...who stayed home for all of those years with THREE kids running around acting like raging lunatics - I appreciate you!! From all of the small things: like notes in our lunchbags - to the big things: like life lessons...(like the garage door I ran through...another story for another time) - you are amazing! And, I NOW truly appreciate why you made us run up and down the stairs or sent us to "go outside and don't come back in until you can be nice" - I'm sure I deserve this karma. :)
In the meantime, I can't wait to go to work in the morning! XO
Then I loaded the kiddo and my 69 year old co-worker into the Mom car for the 30 minute drive to Chugiak for the site visit. They were both very well behaved, but hungry...and did I mention that I had zero caffeine at this point? I stopped for a pink energy drink and had to buy one of them a rice krispie treat and the other one milk & donuts...which she didn't like. She threw the donuts all over the backseat, chugged the milk, and took a ten minute catnap.
Upon arriving at the job-site, she was excited to get out...then she realized that she had to get into the front pack. At least all of the welding, hammering, and general construction excitement kept her occupied for the thirty minute walk-around. I wouldn't normally take my child to the job-site, but I wasn't going to leave her in the car alone. :) She was pretty interested in my orange vest and hard hat - I'll have to get her one too.
Then I had to meet with my superintendent in his trailer, so I let her run free in there. She played with every power tool on the floor, tried to start the drill, and stole a roll of flagging tape...which she strung throughout the entire length of the trailer. I'm sure he was sad to see her leave. :)
I think she fell asleep on the way back to town, but I don't remember because I had a thirty minute phone conversation with an architect about blackened steel. Don't ask...it looks cool, but it's currently the bane of my existence. We dropped the old guy co-worker off at the office and headed to the polls to vote. As we arrive up the counter, Pickle lets a nice fart out and giggles (definitely our kid)...and I realize that her diaper is soaking wet. We carry on...do our job and vote for Alaska's future.
We finally arrive at home after our four hour jaunt of "to do's" and she's thrilled...running around and stripping off her skort. I take off her eighty pound diaper, she looks at me, smiles, and pees on the floor. OMG...this should've been an indication of how the rest of my afternoon was going to go.
After the weird "dudes in spandex" show, we try some laundry...she opens every cupboard in the laundry room, throws all of the dirty clothes into the hall, and picks up every single folded pile of CLEAN clothing and tosses it into the dirty clothes basket. I had to admit that was pretty smart and perhaps she was trying to be helpful...hahahaha. In between the dumping clean clothes into the basket, she discovered a bag of those dental floss/toothpick things (when did she get tall enough to reach the counter). Yep, dumped the entire bag out on top of the laundry and put almost every single one into her mouth. Daddy's going to be thrilled...he'll never know, we just dumped them back into the bag and put them away. :)
The rest of the afternoon went the same way...there were a lot of "NO's" from both of us, NO nap for either of us, and a lot of "I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow" sighs from me. I couldn't wait for Daddy and our "other kids" to get home, so I could pass her off to one of them. At four PM, I popped a beer, made dinner, and let her run around and undo everything I had tried to do. Finally, JoJo shows up to snuggle with Pickle and they both pass out...yeah. Dammit.
So - to my Mom...who stayed home for all of those years with THREE kids running around acting like raging lunatics - I appreciate you!! From all of the small things: like notes in our lunchbags - to the big things: like life lessons...(like the garage door I ran through...another story for another time) - you are amazing! And, I NOW truly appreciate why you made us run up and down the stairs or sent us to "go outside and don't come back in until you can be nice" - I'm sure I deserve this karma. :)
In the meantime, I can't wait to go to work in the morning! XO
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