WORK ETHIC

Yesterday was my last day at work, which I say with trepidation. I've been freelancing at Cosmo part time for a few months now, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I owe any sanity I have had to the respite of work.

Originally I honestly couldn't see how my brain, awash in feeding schedules and doctors appointments, would function when asked to work with other adults.  That is, until my first day back when I was able to get up from my desk, walk to the bathroom, and pee without first making sure no one would cry/fall/puke/choke in my absence. How liberating!

I now think of the perennial question, "How do you balance work and family?" as contrary to it's own point. The real question, I think, should be to stay-at-home parents, "How do you maintain your sanity without work and family to balance each other out"?

Nothing that occurs in an average day at home with the kids is particularly difficult, but the endless, relentless, sameness to every day and night for weeks and months on end is a serious test of endurance. A marathon is hard, but it's over in a couple of hours if you're fast. Parenting is akin to a walkathon around a track inside a public school gymnasium that lasts for 10 months straight. I am amazed at how everything is simultaneously mundane and crucial nearly all the time.


To wit, here is a sample of what one days schedule is like around here:

7:00am Roan wakes up
7:30am Lula meds
7:30am Lula Nebulizer treatment
8:00am Roan breakfast
8:00am Lula G-tube feeding/feeding therapy
9:00am Night nurse leaves
10:30am Lula meds
10:30am Roan bottle/nap
11:00am Lula 1 hr with speech/feeding therapist
11:00am Lula G-tube feeding
12:00pm Roan lunch
2:00pm Lula G-tube feeding/feeding therapy
3:00pm Walk to the park, errands, etc
4:00pm Lula 1hr with physical therapist
4:30pm Lula meds
5:00pm Lula G-tube feeding/feeding therapy
5:00pm Dinner for Roan
6:00pm Baths
7:00pm Roan to bed
7:30pm Nebulizer treatment for Lula
8:00pm Lula G-tube feeding
10:30pm Lula meds
11:00pm Night nurse arrives
11:00pm Lula G-tube feeding
1:30am Lula meds
2:00am Lula G-tube feeding
5:00am Lula G-tube feeding

I should note that I was working at Cosmo part time and my bosses and colleagues were uncommonly supportive of my other life. My boss has twins and could wholeheartedly empathize with me.  

But even the most insane of photo shoot production catastrophies have hardly prepared me for the schedule of parenting these two puppies.  If I want another vacation I think I will just have to find another job.