We survived

My first week back at work after 2 years maternity leave has finished.  And we survived!  This time around my meticulous planning and list after list actually worked and I got to my office each day at a reasonable time (I was a little bit late each day though) and I got back to the Kindy before closing time at 6pm (albeit within 10-15mins of closing time) to pick them up.  There were a few minor problems, but all in all, it went well.

I'm enjoying being back at work, although I am completely worn out.  It's still a bit of a novelty, but I know that will wear off as my various systems access keeps coming through.  Thankfully I didn't have to redo a heap of the training courses I was absolutely dreading doing and I only had a heap of the easy, 'common sense' type ones to get through.  The ones that you don't need to even read to be able to pass the assessment.  I'm enjoying catching up with many people that I haven't seen in almost 3 years and I'm also enjoying seeing the new faces around.  So much about my actual office is so familiar and the city, while so much has changed, there are just some things that never change, like the way the traffic lights work and when it's safe to jaywalk!

The girls are doing well at Kindy.  They seem to be settling in really well and while they have been almost to breaking point on the tired side, they are both happy and that's the main thing.  The first day was a bit hard.   Mackenna had a trial run day at Daycare on Friday and it didn't start off well.  She screamed her head off when we said goodbye and it broke our hearts.  She was fine each time we called to check up on her though and seemed to be in a great mood when we picked her up.

They have been having their sleeps and eating all of their food, so they must be feeling comfortable and safe.  Mackenna has even eaten rockmelon, which she has never really liked before.

Monday went well.  I wanted the first day back to be as seamless as possible, knowing that it was probably going to end in disaster.   I had packed everything for the girls and had their stuff waiting at the front door.  I had planned in my head what I needed to do to get ready and out the door in time.  I went to bed at sometime between 11:30 & midnight, by the time I'd finally slowed my racing mind down enough to sleep.

I get stirred from my sleep hearing "Mumma, I'm a-waayk" and feeling this cute light tapping on my shoulder.  I realised it was still dark and my first thought was "I so wish you weren't."  I pulled her into bed and Todd and I tried to get her settled.  She didn't settle back down and go to sleep and wasn't going back to her bed, so Todd got up and watched TV with her (was about 4:30 by this stage.)  I tossed and turned for the next hour or so, before getting up with my eyes absolutely burning and my head pounding!  I felt like I had the worst hangover ever (and I hadn't even had one drink to show for it! )

But I got ready in good time and we managed to get the girls ready and in the car by 7:15.  I was stoked.  I had hoped to get out by 7am, but was going to be happy if we could do it by 7:15.  I completely expected us to be leaving at 8am.  (And I wish that was a joke.)

So we dropped the girls off and Mackenna literally waved us good bye and started getting on with her day.  I was so proud of her.  She was so tired after being up so early, but she was more than happy to stay there without us.  Piper wasn't really phased either way bless her.  She was tired too, being woken up a little bit earlier than normal with all the commotion happening in the rest of the house.  When we left and as we drove off, I did have to try and hold back the tears.

Todd arranged to work from home for the day so he could be close if either of the girls needed to be picked up, which also meant he could drive me into the city.  It was nice to not have to stress about public transport as well as everything else.  I got there a little bit late, but I was really happy with the time I had arrived.

I was happy to see the end of the day and my little family who all came together to pick me up.  Mackenna couldn't wait to tell me about "kin-deeeee".  It was really cool!  They were both very tired though and happy to see their beds.

Thursday and Friday went similarly.  I left my phone and Go Card (our way of paying for public transport) in the console of the car on Thursday.  Normally it's not too much of a problem, but I needed my phone to contact my boss to tell her I was going to be late (didn't know her number by heart or have a current business card,) so that the Daycare could call if they needed too and because I had emailled myself something I needed and was only able to access it via my phone.  And the trip home cost me $7.90...  about $2 more than if I'd had the Go Card.  I also forgot my pass into the building.  Friday just got off to a slow start.... the girls just couldn't wait to make some nappy changing duties someone else's problem and I forgot to pack the girls water bottles.  Minor little things that thankfully didn't ruin my morning/day, but that I could have done without!

Hopefully we've learnt enough this past week to hit the ground running tomorrow morning.  I've got a few things I want to suss out at the Daycare eg. Piper must have a pigeon hole full of nappies, cause I send her with about 3 more than she should need in a day, yet her bag is empty each day! And where are the girls Ikea bears Roger and Trevor???  And why is there always something that doesn't belong to the girls sent home with them each day and why do I have a list of things that are missing out of their bags, after only 3 days!!  (I'm assuming these are just things that you get used to though and check out before you leave the centre!)  I've got a whole heap of 'processes' to streamline too eg. getting the kids in and out of the car....  it's going to be a lot easier to do 2 trips, cause trying to carry 4 bags + 2 children is just a Supermum moment waiting to happen!!  Especially when your toddler is in Cat. 6 Tropical Cyclone mode (which is pretty much every Kindy day due to being sooo tired!!!) and is running off in the carpark when she knows I can't possibly chase after her without making an idiot of myself and the getting home, dinner, bath, bed in a reasonable timeframe.  The girls were still getting to bed at 8pm, which is their usual bedtime, but on kindy day's they really need to be going at least half an hour earlier.   Just little things that we'll learn and get better at with some practice, patience and persistence over the next few weeks.

We'll get there!

Week 2....  here we come!