Wow, 2009 was a blast! I call it "The Year of the Baby" in that I started the year with my 'coming out' as a pregnant lady, then blossomed into very pregnant lady, then had a baby and was on maternity leave, then a reduced work schedule, then holiday break. It was like a glorious dream.
And now 2010, which I shall call, "The Year of Reality."
Now I really have to figure out how to make this whole working mom thing, well, work. Or work well. (I'm just so clever! ;) )
So my plan... ready? Its brilliant!
1. Learn to be happy. I spend so much time in tears or near tears because I have to leave my squishy baby to go to work. Of the 7 days in a week, my parents have 4, my husband has 1 (well, 1 to himself and 2 with me), and I only get 2 days that I have to share (and bath time, and midnight feedings and morning dressing time.) But you know what? I'm going to be HAPPY (damnit!) I have a house that is rapidly becoming a home, I have a WONDERFUL husband, am blessed that my parents will provide my child with care even if it means they have to make sacrifices, and my child is fantastic! We are all healthy and employed and it could be SO much worse! I read about a chapter of Enriques Jouney (its a book) and had to put it down. Its about mothers in latin american countries who are single mothers (not by choice) in countries with no child support laws, that leave their children to go to America to try to earn money for their families since they want their children to be able to eat every day. And the children, desperate for their mothers, ride the tops of freight cars, risking life and limb, to try to join up with their mother in the US. Wow. With that as a reality for so many people, I guess being a working mother isn't so awful. Also, a FOF told me she was worried leaving her little girl and that somehow their bond would be damaged with her working crazy hours. Well, she was excited to report that children always know their mother. When her daughter needs comfort, the only person she wants is her mother, even though other people may spend more time with her. That was cool to hear. So, goal for 2010, BE HAPPY.
2. Learn to be clean! I created a 'chore chart' for me and my hubby. The idea being that we will more regularly do things, like cook and clean. It will help to make the division of labor in the house more equitable (sorta. I still assigned myself more chores rather than argue with him about cleaning the bathroom.) But now all parts of the house will be cleaned once a month. Sure, we should probally vaccum more than once a month, but once a month is more than we do now! Knowing I have to vaccume this week means that it will get done, versus me looking at my dirty floor (yes, with the baby on it) and thinking "Wow, that really needs to get done" and then NEVER doing it. So yes, it will happen after the baby goes to bed which is exhausting since I also have to pack up a ton of stuff for the baby to have at my Mom's house, and pack myself up, and find clothes that fit and are clean, plus special projects (see below). But I have faith. And stubborness.
3. Learn to be responsible! We need to cut our budget and be responsible. So we will food shop every week, and cook regularly, and cancel premium channels, and not spend money we don't have. This is going to be hard. It will take a little doing since we overspent SO much this holiday, so essentially we will empty our savings and start trying to build it back up. This is an annual event. We MUST get better!
4. Get 'er done! I keep walking around my house thinking, "Oh, I should organize that, throw that away, clean that, paint that" etc but it NEVER gets done. So each month I will do 1 project. Tackle 1 room that needs work. I will organize it, throw things away, recycle/sell/give things away, and clean it. I will do a little bit each night. The plan:
January: I get paid to organize a job fair which will be in Feb. Since I have to get the baby, I will not stay late at work to work on it, so I have to do it at home. So that will be this month's project. Oh, and taking down Christmas decorations.
February: The job fair is the 19th, so I will be working on that this month as well. Also, this will be baby's 6th month so I may try to exercise a little more, and eat better so the baby can just eat what I eat. I'm not going to wean yet, but I'm thinking with all this pumping my supply may start to dwindle. Besides, we will be moving ahead with solids.
March: Basement part 3: The cold zone. Our basement has 3 distinct rooms. One is under our kitchen, is cold, leaky and cold. And leaky. And buggy. This is where we store things that can handle cold, leaky and buggy. Like decorations, AC units, and camping/skiing equipment. But there are moldy canna bulbs, old boxes, etc that can be tossed.
April: Basement part 2: The big ole mess. This is where most of the storage happens in our basement. And the laundry. And the bathroom. So this is where I toss things I don't want to deal with, and there are a LOT of things! Hopefully, by now I will have saved some money to buy some storage bins and be able to reorganize and trash stuff. My MIL gives us a lot of stuff that we won't use, and it ends up here. So maybe a yardsale? Or I'll be lazy and take it to Goodwill.
May: Basement part 1: The future office. In April/May I'm going to go off BCP's and try for baby #2. If I got pregnant right away....wait while I stop laughing... the kids would be 18months apart. Thats the closest I want to go. So this room needs to be CLEANED since its really the cats room. The rug has to be cleaned and moved, the old CDs and videos need to be dealt with, etc.
June: The current office. Its really not in bad shape, but there are SO many books and SO much stuff that can be tossed. Not to mention my shoe closet where there are shoes that I would NEVER wear. So we will organize this and simplify this and it will be lovely.
July: Move the office to the basement. What a daunting task!
August: Baby boy turns 1! If I'm preggo, then this month will be turning the room formerly known as the office into his room. If I'm not, then it will be cleaning out our bedroom. I mean, by now I will have been exercising regularly, the basement will be organized, and I will know where to take old crap.
September: This will be the month left blank. This is where I can catch my breath and catch up with my self.
October: My birthmonth! Since now my house is regularly clean, and organized, and I'm brilliant, and life is perfect in every way, this month I'll tackle the kitchen. I'm sure by now it is a big ole mess since we are cooking for the baby, but we may be able to pack up some baby feeding stuff... hmmmmm.... probally not because I'm so totally pregnant by now... (hardeeharhar!)
November: Remember the plan for August? Well, whatever wasn't done then will be done now. And holiday's.
December: Just the holidays. I mean, is there time for anything else?
Imagine if I stuck with this plan? Next Christmas would be AWESOME!! But boy, just writing this has worn me out. Do I have the energy to do this? Or the time? Or the ability? I wish I could just cancel the TV since that is such a time sucker, but hubby said no. (We don't watch when the baby is awake.) The other challenge is the baby. I want to spend all my time with the baby, so this stuff will need to get done in small bursts at night. Perhaps an occassional weekend (as involved with moving heavy stuff.) But optimism is how things get done.
5. Lastly, turn my job into something I can be proud of. Heck, if I have to be here I might as well be accomplished! Of course, I've spent my first day back after break blogging away, but there is an adjustment period. :)
So off to eat lunch! Happy 2010 (Twenty ten) everyone!!
