One of the weirdest parts of newborn life / maternity leave is being suddenly so disjointed from the schedules and rhythms that formerly tied everything together. The obvious lack is the work day - no more 9-5, no more colleagues, no more teams messages. But it's also so easy to forget what day it is when most days are roughly the same.
At 3pm every day I am ready for a nap.
I want to make plans with people, but one thing I haven't figured out how to do is leave the house at any specified time. Today I finally sent some "hey, do you want to come hang out?" messages to friends who I am close enough to that I know they won't mind sitting in my house and making me food while babies feed.
When I was on maternity leave last time I was desperate to see people and have play dates on weekends and didn’t understand why everyone else was so much more content than me. As soon as I started work my desire for play dates at 9am on Saturday was gone - I was getting my social fill from work. I suddenly realised why other people were less keen on the 9am play date.
I am two weeks into this adventure though, and very aware that kids change all the time and babies even more so. So I am trying to take it easy, while also very aware that I currently exist in a slightly off kilter temporality.
Life is odd when monitored in time between feeds and naps. It’s 4:30pm and my “to do” list still includes “brush teeth” and “take vitamin”. I’m aware than very soon I won’t remember if I took my vitamin, but I’ll definitely remember holding these babies who are currently as small as they will ever be
Aww, this is such a sweet post. I currently have a baby on my chest and I know there's a million things I "should" do (did I brush my teeth today??), but this is all I want to do. - Kat
ReplyDeleteThose days were so long ago for me, but they still have such a sweet poignant feel. No idea what time it was, what day it was, how I was going to manage laundry and dinner and so on. Sweet baby, sweet naps and diapers that don't stink yet...Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI have no personal experience but can imagine that it's a very isolating, confusing, yet rewarding time when everything revolves one (or two) tiny humans. Enjoy this moment.
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