In Sickness and Babies

Apr 21st, 2011 by mrsnotouching

Turns out there IS a limit to my madness. Working full-time, doing photography part-time, partially blogging, trying to raise kids and pretend I can still party like a rock star is HARD.WORK. And working hard is not not something I endorse. I like things to happen organically, I guess. You know, like I let my blog rot for weeks instead of writing something half-ass that would possibly… maybe… oh, I don’t know –  drive traffic? But who wants traffic anyway, I’d like to think of diapermonogues.com as an exclusive, underground vacation spot for rich and famous. Welcome to the Bora Bora of the blogging world!

But back to hard work.

I’ve been back to work for about two weeks now. I was hoping it would feel more natural and it will be as if I have never left the office… not so much, but hey… this is not the officemonogues.com that is probably getting way more traffic than this secret vacation spot of rich and famous.

So back to the kids.

Mr. Notouching and I have decided that it would be best for everyone if I took the kids to the daycare in the mornings and he picked them up after work. I was never really a morning person (not much of the afternoon or evening either) but now? Mornings are extra special… in a

HOLY!

SHIT!

TRIATHLON!

kind of way…  It’s one thing to get the kids ready and it’s a whole new skill to get them ready AND get yourself ready AND manage to protect your outfit and hair until the point of the drop off! I’m getting to the point were I am laying out my work clothes in the garage so I can quickly slip into them AFTER I have buckled both of them into their car-seats… I mean when people can smell the fact that you have kids – you have a problem. Just saying…

It didn’t help that Mr. Notouching was shipped to Arizona for the last 96 hours. (Apparently that’s how far you have to go these days to get a good nights sleep… or work conference… something boring like that.) Those were the longest four days of my life and I have a whole new appreciation for single parents… And let me tell you, my commitment to make our marriage last has never been stronger… In sickness and babies!

Amen.

Posted in back to work, blogging, Leila, Liam | 7 Comments »

The Joke That Keeps On Giving

Apr 1st, 2011 by mrsnotouching

April Fool’s was always more exciting when I was little. Most of my jokes were pretty innocent, except maybe that one time…

My mom worked double shifts and often overnights at the local factory, my dad worked a lot of late nights and some early shifts as a security guard, which meant that most mornings I had to get ready and leave for school without waking them up, because that was their only time to sleep. We lived in one of those multi-story apartment buildings with somewhat shady neighbors (I was told to never make an eye-contact with the neighbor from the third floor). I don’t remember exactly how old I was but it was before my brother was born so around 8 or 9.  That year for April Fool’s I thought it would be very funny to wake my parents up screaming from the hallway pretending that our drunk neighbor from the third floor is trying to get me… (ok, so I’m thinking I was probably 5, because it seemed like a really brilliant idea at that time)

Aaaand I did it.

We lived on the forth floor, so I purposely left our apartment door open, went down to the third floor and… SCREAMED bloody murder… Everything went according to the plan and as soon as I saw my practically naked and exhausted from working all night parents in the hallway… running to my rescue… I ran out to school shouting “April Fool’s!” before they even had a chance to realize what just happened.

There were no cell-phones so they couldn’t call or text to let me know I’ve been emancipated and I knew that by the time I get home from school they both will be at work, so the next real chance of getting in trouble was 24 hours later…  and I figured that by then they will see how FUNNY that really was.  Right? Working at the factory all night, taking a short nap and saving your daughter from a potential pervert attack at 7am – pure comedy!

Surprisingly that night my mother still left me dinner under the pillow. It’s not a joke – my mom always left my dinners under the pillows, because she had to be at work about an hour before I got home from school and wanted to make sure I had a hot dinner without setting the whole building on fire trying to warm it up (the microwave was about 10 years into the future at that point).

I ate my perfectly warm dinner and daydreamed about how we all going to roll on the floor laughing about this the next morning. And we did laugh… about ten years later… not so much that next morning. There were no time-outs back then and nobody was taking away privileges (because you can’t really take away food, clothes or a roof over your child’s head to prove the point)  just some good old fashion belt action… And the punishment didn’t end there… my mother loves telling this story over and over again.

Posted in self | 4 Comments »

Because…

Mar 31st, 2011 by mrsnotouching

… grandmother will be spending the summer with us! I think I hear the angels singing.

Posted in because | 3 Comments »

Last Seven Days

Mar 28th, 2011 by mrsnotouching

Last Wednesday I got a job offer and then Elizabeth Taylor died. I hope it’s not related.

I accepted a job offer and will be starting next Monday. It happened a bit sooner than I thought it would but the time and most importantly the job itself is perfect. I’ve been at home with kids for a little over two years so the fact that I will be in the office in less than seven days hasn’t sunk in yet. I will have one more weekday play-date this week, a few more walks around the park in the morning, maybe one more grocery shopping trip with the kids before lunch and then… it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day.

Today the house is extra messy. I think it’s my way of spending more time with kids… licking those last drops of the bottom of the ice cream bowl. I feel full. Happy and really excited. There is no doubt in my mind that the decision to go back to work was a good one. I need this job financially and emotionally. Yet, there is part of me that is mourning… and that’s ok. I am giving myself a little time to cry, a couple extra hugs and a few more kisses on those chubby cheeks. I am staying away from all the baby pictures, cause there is no stopping that tsunami of sweet memories and bitter guilt.

I have been incredibly blessed to be able to stay home with my kids for as long as I did. I know so many parents who would love to do that. I am also incredibly lucky that I had a  choice – some of us have to stay home because taking kids to day care is not financially smart. And then I got lucky again, because when I did decide to go back to work, a perfect job practically landed on my head. I am one lucky girl. Yet… this is the most bitter sweet moment of my life.

Next Monday I will wake up a few minutes before my babies, wash my hair and get the kids ready while making sure nobody pukes on my shirt and nobody wipes their hands with my pants. I will drop them off at the daycare with my heart neatly tucked into their little pockets just in case they need it… and hope that their little banks of love are full and last them through the day. I won’t put any make-up, because I will cry all the way to work. I will join the rush hour traffic and pray I don’t use any baby-talk in the office or wipe somebody’s nose out of habit.

Millions have done it before me and millions have survived. I will be OK. I will be OK. I will be OK.

Posted in back to work, self | 9 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »