The big transition

The time has come.  I am no longer a full-time mom.  Of course, I suppose I am still a full-time mom.  I mean, the job of being a mom never really ends.  But on top of being a full-time mom, I'm now also a part-time Dean of Educational Partnerships.  Yes, I've returned to work.  I ever-so-thankful to work under someone who is understanding of family needs and agreed to allow me to cut my schedule to 20 hours per week.  I'm working Tuesday through Friday, 11am - 4pm.  This allows me to have long weekends and to have my mornings with Conor.  While I'm at work, Conor spends time at daycare.  I chose a family daycare 7 minutes from my school.  It's run by three women.  The owner is a very maternal, caring grandmother who still has spunk and energy to run around with a bunch of toddlers.  She has two full-time assistants who who have a combined 7 children of their own.  They currently have nine children and can have up to 10 total at any one time.  Most of the children (six of them) are between the ages of 1 and 3, which makes for a good amount of noise.  Conor is still getting used to that.  Thankfully, he was happy both times I dropped him off so far.  It would be much harder to leave him if he were crying.  After I left the first day, he began crying and cried for a while, even while taking his bottle.  However, after a nap, he woke up happier and had a good afternoon.  The second day was better.  He's struggling to nap well with all the noise, but he'll get used to it in time.  Leaving him at day care is one of the most difficult things I've done, but day two was about 100 times easier than day one, so I know it will only get easier with time.  And it is great to be back at work.  If only I could be at work and with Conor at the same time.  (My boss is very understanding, but not that understanding!)  And so, we both survived our first two days of work and day care.  Now, I have a week of vacation.  (It's school vacation week.)  Next week, back to the grind...