I take my baby to work...

“Was it hard for you to go back to work?”

“Yes.  But not in the way you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Alice comes to work with me.”

“Really?!  It’s so cool that you get to do that…”

This is usually how the conversation goes.  The school where I work as an admin is much more sensible about early maternity than most American workplaces.  I got six weeks paid maternity leave and could have taken another six unpaid.  Then, when it was time to return, Alice was able to come with me.  She can continue to work with me until she crawls.

Awesome?  You bet it is!  Lucky?  You bet I am!  Easy?  You bet IT’S NOT!  Trying to do everything a stay-at-home mom does and everything for my career all day, every day is complicated.  It takes quite a bit of planning, hurrying, and waking up at 4am to pull it off.  

Since my situation is rare, I thought it might be interesting to write out a day in my life as a working karate momma!

Morning

1. 4:05am: My alarm goes off.  I take a few minutes to go over all the reasons to sleep in a little longer.
2. 4:14am: My snooze alarm goes off.  I try in vain to stretch the stiffness that comes with co-sleeping out.
3. I drag my butt out of bed and rearrange the baby so that my husband has more room to sleep.
4. I take my vitamins, apply magnesium (post to come about how and why I supplement), brush my teeth and hair, apply moisturizer, and get dressed.
5. Everyone needs coffee!  I start some to brew, then prepare an easy breakfast of yogurt, cottage cheese, or toast with homemade jam (yummo!).  Let’s be honest, sometimes I don’t even want to do that.  That’s when the spoon goes into the peanut butter jar!
6. I start pumping for Wesley. 
7. 
8. Alice almost always fusses around now, and Dan doesn’t get up until 6am, so I put pumping on hold and take care of whatever need she has.  Usually a new diaper.  Once her needs are met, she normally goes back to sleep.
9. Finish pumping for Wesley.
10. Freeze milk, pour coffee.  
11. Empty dishwasher.
12. Fix to-go breakfast to eat at work (yes, I eat two breakfasts.  No judgy!).
13. Put diaper bag, purse, and lunch box in car.  Grab a freezer meal out to thaw.
14. Empty washing machine and hang clothes to dry.  Fold and put away clothes that dried last night.  Start a new load...probably diapers.  It’s usually diapers.
15. 6:30am: Wake Alice to change her, dress her, and dose her with vitamin D (dose myself while I’m at it!).  
16. 6:45am: Coats, “Bye Bye, Daddy,” and into the car!

At work

1. 7:10am: I arrive at work and put my stuff away.  Alice hangs out in a bassinet with wheels next to my desk.
2. Miss Jeanne, one of the pk teachers, comes to get Alice for cuddle time.  This gives me a few minutes to set myself up for the day!  She stays with Miss Jeanne until too many other children arrive or until she needs something.  Usually a diaper.  She returns around 7:30am.
3. I like the idea of baby wearing, but Alice has never loved being in the carrier.  Ergo, this is the time of morning when we fight over whether or not she’s going to be carried for awhile.  She’ll tolerate it without too much protest until she needs something.  Usually a diaper.
4. Feed Alice and change her (at this point I really haven’t gotten any work done).
5. 8:30am nap time!  Alice takes two 2-hour naps most days.  During the first one I try to get all voicemails checked and returned so I don’t have to talk over her baby noises.  Then I check and return email while eating second breakfast (I told you, no judgy!), and start on whatever miscellaneous tasks I have for the day.
6. I don’t keep her to a strict two hours, but she mostly wakes up right around 10:30am.  Usually for a diaper.
7. 11:10am: The Alice Fan Club shows up!  There are four 8th graders who are in love with Alice.  They come every day during their lunchtime to play with her.  I take this time to sort mail and go to the bathroom!  (You know how it is, Mommas.  If you don’t put it on the schedule, sometimes it doesn’t happen!)
8. 
9. After the Fan Club leaves, I feed Alice and put her back in the Mei Tai if she will let me so that I can walk around and do the filing.  If she’s not fighting to get out of the carrier, she is usually soothed by the rocking of the activity and gets ready for her second nap.  And she’ll need a diaper.
10. 12:30ish pm: Change Alice, put her down for a nap.
11. During her second nap, I finish my filing and miscellaneous tasks, then check voicemail again.
12. 2:30ish pm: Up and at ‘em!  Diaper (are you seeing a theme here?!) and toy time.  I talk to her and take her on walks around the common area to give her a change of scenery.  Sometimes Amanda the Librarian will take her and read to her.  She usually wants to eat at some point in here as well.
13. 3:15pm: The Fan Club returns at the end of the school day.  While they play with her, I pack up all her things and get ready to go home.
14. 3:30pm: Coats and out the door!

Evening

1. Upon arrival at home, I unpack the diaper bag and repack for when I take her to my parents’ house during my karate classes.
2. Freezer meals make supper easier.  Sometimes they are crockpot meals, other times they need to be baked, fried, or sautéed.  Whatever the case, this is when I get it started so that it’s ready when I return from karate.
3. When you do cloth diapering, laundry encompasses much of your time.  I do another load at this time.
4. Nap time is pumping time.
5. I drop Alice off at my parents’.  I usually do one or two 45-minute karate classes.  Grandma will usually feed her a bottle of pumped milk, cuddle and play with her, read to her, and generally love on her the way only grandmas can.  My daddy and grandma love her and get to play and cuddle her too! 
6. 
7. If Dan hasn’t picked her up on his way home from work, I get Alice and go home.
8. Supper time with Dan and pack lunch for tomorrow.
9. Alice’s bedtime!
10. Waking up to an uncluttered house makes my morning run smoother, so I put things away before I retire.
11. Take a shower.
12. Spend time with Dan: watch a show, read together, pray, whatever!
13. Bedtime!  4am comes awfully early.  Gotta get my sleep.

And there you have it.  I’m exhausted most of the time, but I really do know how blessed I am to get to have my baby at work with me.  It’s difficult, but not as difficult as it would be to leave her every day!  Thanks for reading!  Let me know if you would be interested in a “What’s in My Diaper Bag” post to act as a companion to this one.