As a working parent, there are few things more precious than soaking up and making the most of the free time I do have at home with my son, particularly during the work week. On an average day (when daycare is open), I see him for about an hour in the morning when he first gets up and ready for the day, and then for another hour in the evening for dinner and bedtime.
Normally it’s not nearly enough, and I truly had to think hard about whether I could bear to leave him and return to work after maternity leave came to an end. While I knew being a stay at home mom probably wasn’t going to happen for a variety of reasons, the despair of leaving my tiny 3-month old baby in the care of people other than me was difficult, and left me with both a heartache and a touch of mom guilt.
Maternity leave is a unique period of time in life where time both stands still and flies by at the same exact time. When you think about it, it’s probably the only time in your child’s life that you’ll ever be with them 24/7 for a somewhat extended period of time.
When daycare officially shut down mid-March, the prospect of caring for Ben full-time was daunting, given my work schedule and load was not going to change, but it was also a blessing I never thought I’d get to experience again – and for that I’m eternally grateful.
This is not to say that it’s been easy to care for him and attempt to work at the same time, because it’s been quite the opposite, but in the spirit of silver linings – I can’t get enough of his cute face around the clock!
He’s recently started to walk, so getting to closely witness his progress day-by-day has been a true joy. He’s literally gone from holding onto the couch, to holding onto my leg to pull himself up, to doing it all on his own – within weeks! This progression and growth is something I know I would have missed to some degree (and only learned of from his teachers) if he were away from me for most of the day.
So, as tiring as it is to constantly chase him down and make sure he’s not sticking his little fingers into the wall outlets, I really can’t complain because I’m getting him all to myself yet again. I’m choosing to view this time with him in a positive light, and as a gift that I never anticipated but am so fortunate to have been given.
As I sit here and finish writing this post, I’m actually very sad thinking about the day when I’ll have to get him up and out the door again, just to say goodbye for the day.
What silver linings have you discovered during this time?