This week, my three year old has had to stay home as he had managed to get a particularly bad dose of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. It started at the end of last week so over the weekend the worst of it presented. He was quite poorly on Monday this week so obviously it was a day of cuddles, ice pops and lots of Paw patrol. Day 2 I got to go to work while my other half did Daddy Daycare. I came home and was rewarded with lots of cuddles and it seems the little man was well and truly back on form. But to be on the safe side, he is to stay away from his day care for the rest of the week. Me doing day 3 and 4, and dad doing day 5.
It is day 4, and I swear I cannot wait to go into the office tomorrow. How do stay at home mums do it?? Now admittedly I have been doing work in between, during nap time and while a particularly good 30 minutes of Paw Patrol or Dinosaur Train comes on telly. It feels like we have been stuck in doors for so long, and yes, I cannot really take him to the park and indoor play whilst covered in the itchy scratchies. But when the weather is rubbish what can you do for a whole week so that neither of you lose the plot.
Now Kieran is good, he loves to play with his trains and trucks, and is more than happy to do it alone, in fact often telling me to go and do something else! However I feel bad, he has hardly seen another person except us all week. I took him to Tesco yesterday and it was like unleashing the devil! He must have sensed the freedom! The open space and was off like a whippet! All that pent up energy just rattled through and we walked (ok, he ran) the aisles chatting and getting things (and then me putting them back!).
His routine that my childminder has in place is pretty much out the window (except for snacks and lunch), his nap time is like asking him to lie in a bed of nettles! He has been in his vest and pants since 8am (he doesn’t like wearing clothes at the best of times) and he knows exactly where we keep all the goodies now so I had a tug of war over a Freddo and Parma Violets at 9am. He has watched way too much TV whilst I have tried to keep up with work stuff and can use the Ipad to look at all his favourite holiday photos!
But tomorrow I get to escape, I get hot coffee and a Greggs at 11am. Conversation that is not about E45 itchy cream, checking for crusty spots and finding crackers in the washing machine. I get to come home to hugs and kisses and appreciate my little toddler who is evolving into a funny bright little boy. Juggling both work life and home is very difficult and merging the two is really hard as I found this week. Working from home with a child in tow is nigh on impossible and I take my hat off to anyone who can do this.
For me working part time is great, I get the best of both worlds, I keep sane by getting out to the office each day and I get home early enough to do tea and have time before we do the bedtime routine. My toddler gets to go to lots of group activities, have little friends and enjoy learning independence in a happy safe environment. It is days like this that I really know what I am doing is right.
This week has been far from the norm and it is not over yet. I’m sure my little devil is looking forward to Monday just as much as me to get back to his normal little world!
Mum-atron At Work 