I’m down to less than two weeks before returning to work. It’s definitely a little scary, but in a way I’m also excited to see my coworkers and see if I can successfully get back into the swing of working. This week I’m home with all my kids who are on spring break, and it’s giving me a glimpse of what summer vacation would be like if I weren’t working. My son actually tires me out more than I think my job will, although the stress there is on a different level.
The good thing is that my sister and parents are going to help us out by picking him up and taking him to preschool (until it’s over when school ends June 10), picking him up from there, and watching him the rest of the afternoon. After June 10 they can keep him all day. My mom and sister both teach piano, and he shows some promise in that area, so I’m hoping they will spend a little time working with him on that. Since I’ll be working I’ll be able to pay them a little bit to help out, and that will in turn help them out!
Another possibility I’ve been exploring is getting someone to come in and clean the house every other week. I think that would take a load off of me, and I really hate it when the house isn’t clean. I wind up spending a lot of my energy outside of work cleaning just so I can stand it. My daughters really also need to take up some of the slack; they are 15 and almost 13 now—certainly old enough to lend a hand with chores. It’s just such a challenge to make them see that their help is expected and required, when up to this point they have gotten away with doing very little. Maybe these new chores could somehow be tied to their allowance, although I truly believe they need to be doing things just because they are part of this household, too.
I see my family doctor this Thursday and my psychiatrist on Tuesday of next week. I will need to have both of them send in documentation stating I’m ready to return to work on the 19th. Wish me luck.
