No, I'm not pregnant. My big news is that I got a job! I haven't had one in nearly 3 years. It's full time with at least a 30 minute commute, so I'll be away from the kids for most of their waking hours. I've been looking for one on and off since Avery was about 8 months old, so I'm thrilled that this worked out, but it's a huge change. How will I manage everything? How do you working moms do it?
Re: Excited but a little freaked out
What are you going to do about child care?
My jaw may or may not have just dropped when reading the bolded part!
As for working full time, everything just seems to work out. You learn to multi task like no other. I try to use nap time to my advantage. I try my best (although I don't always succeed) to meal plan and make lists of everything. Crock pot meals are your friend! I try to do grocery shopping early one weekend day while DH watches Noah. If I can't get in a real shopping trip, I'll run quickly right after work and before I pick up Noah...always goes faster without him
Like I said, it will all work out! GL!
For us, we prep as much as possible on Sundays. So for my lunch, DH makes 4 salads that night, but only adds dressing to the one that's going with me to work on Monday. That way during the week it's a lot less lunch prep.
Do you have to drive or can you take public transit? If you're on transit you can use the commute time to either rest/veg or get small chores/organization done (pay bills, meal plan, etc).
My only other piece of advice - if your start date isn't set in stone yet, try to start on a Tuesday or Wednesday so your first work week is short. That first week will be exhausting and having it be a day or two shorter will make you a little less tired for your first weekend at home.
You can totally do this!
BFP #2 5/27/12. EDD 2/1/13. m/c and D&C 6/21/12.
Congratulations! That is definitely exciting news! I'm a big fan of outsourcing too...I'm all for paying someone else to make my life easier. We have a nanny too and I think that makes a huge difference. I'm not running around trying to get DS and myself out the door, prepping food, packing and unpacking his things. She shows up at my door and takes care of everything, including his laundry. I'm shocked that there is such a difference in cost of nannies -- I'm in a suburb of NYC and we pay our nanny $650/week, which will increase with baby #2, but still no where near $900/week. I have friends in NYC and they're not even paying $900/week. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone a little more affordable.
We also have a cleaning woman every 2 weeks and she is a lifesaver. I can't even imagine what this place would look like without her.
Dinner is a crap shoot around here. DH does help in that arena, and I'm lucky to work from home 2 days a week so I can usually get something going while I'm wrapping up work. We try to shop on Sundays for the week, but sometimes DH just gets something easy on the way home...pre-cooked roasted chickens from the grocery store are healthy and quick. We just add some veggies & mashed potatoes. Right now I have something in the crock pot.
It will be an adjustment, but you'll definitely find your groove and learn not to stress out about things that might have bothered you before. Also, when I come home, I shut down work completely while I'm with DS. When he goes to bed, I can get back to work if I'm busy.
Is this an engineering job? (I think you're an engineer, if I'm not going crazy!)
Congratulations!
Our nanny started out at 47.5 hours a week, so that came to about $13.75/hr. We've had some scheduling changes though, so now she works 43 hours/wk, putting her at a little over $15/hr. I found both our current and previous nanny on care.com and we've had a great experience. Our first nanny was with us for 2.5 years and would still be with us if she didn't leave to have a baby. I haven't decided what our increase will be with #2, but that won't start until I go back to work after my leave. Her hours will also go back to 47.5. I do give her 2 weeks paid vacation, but it actually ends up being more than that because I get over 4 weeks including an extended holiday vacation in December. She also gets holidays and 3 sick days.
It is a little weird at first to have a nanny, but honestly, our first nanny just felt like a part of our family. She really loved DS and I know he adored her too. In fact, she just came by the other day to see DS and have us meet her baby.
That's great that you finally found a job in your field! Lots of luck and I'm sure you'll get the childcare sorted out.