Saturday, September 18, 2010


Lucy and I got a job! We started working for a man who runs a dried fruit importing business out of his home, in our apartment building. We go up every day from 11-2 to help with paperwork and bookkeeping. Lucy knows where we’re headed when I tell her, “Ok, it’s time to go to work!” She packs up her little blue shape-shorting purse, and waits for me by the door.


Being at work is still a balancing act for me. We work in my boss’s office, which is pretty small, and crammed with things Lucy isn’t allowed to play with. There are boxes of envelopes to unpack, important post-it notes to tear up, metal doors and drawers to bang and clang, and a stapler collection (!!) right at her level. I started packing a backpack of special toys that Lucy is only allowed to play with at work. The bag gets fuller and fuller as I get more and more desperate to get actual WORK done at work.



Lucy plays with the toys for a little while, but spends most of her time sitting on my lap and having ba-bas. I wasn’t sure how my boss, a childless man in his 80s, would take to me nursing on the job. For the first few weeks, I thought he didn’t realize that when Lucy yells “ba-ba! Ba-BA!” and climbs into my lap, we’re actually nursing. But then he was in a grumpy mood one day, when Lucy demanded her bas as soon as we walked in. He grumbled, “You come to work just so you can eat, huh Lucy?” Now that I know he’s on to us, I’m actually really impressed that he puts up with his assistant nursing literally half the time she’s at work.



Luckily, I can count on Lucy to take a nap at the office. I’m amazed that she can fall asleep and stay asleep with all the importing commotion going on around her. I try to get as much done as I can before she wakes up, and my boss says, “It’s aliiiiiiiiiive.”


I really do like our boss. He calls Lucy “Urchin.” For a man who never had children, he’s really sweet with her. She handed him her toy phone a few days ago--trying to start a game of "let's pretend someone is calling me on the phone." He took it, and said, totally deadpan, "Hello? Lucy? She's right here. You can talk to her if you'd like." He handed the phone back to her and she just grinned at him. Now that I think about it though, she spends more time with him than anyone besides me and Tim. I guess that makes them best friends?


I do miss certain things about not working. I miss having the whole day unscheduled, so we could do whatever we pleased whenever the mood struck us. Now we have a definite schedule every day (but they do say that’s good for kids). I REALLY miss napping with Lucy every day. Now when Tim gets home from work, I don’t have the energy to go to the gym or run around outside. I also miss my mama friends—it’s really hard to meet up for playdates when we’re at work right in the middle of the day. But working is good for me, I think. I finally have something on my resume, and I’m learning skills that I might be able to use as a freelancer. And most importantly, I like having more to me than mothering. I love mothering, of course, but I feel sometimes like I lost my multi-facted-ness when I became a stay at home mom. It feels so rejuvenating to have one of my facets back.


4 comments:

  1. Love that napping picture. So peaceful. :)

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  2. Hey!

    Look at that big girl!

    We miss you! Are you back in the city? I'm happy to work around your schedule to seeeeeee you guys! What's Tuesday afternoons like for you?

    BTW I have a new blog: small things grow. My Illy birth story is on there! :)

    xoxo

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  3. Today, Lucy turns 18 months. The past year and a half has brought so many wonderful moments in our lives – thanks to that charming young lady. Congratulations to her Mom and Dad and to all of us!

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  4. Hi there. Your settings are as a no reply blogger, so I couldn't responded directly to the comment you left, but I wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog. You make a good point about when the need is met, it goes away. That's what I was trying to get at when I mentioned changing need. Right now, my toddler still needs to nurse sometimes, and I know that it's best for her. It's tough sometimes to be "different," as most of my friends follow a more "mainstream" parenting style. Thank you for the reminder to cherish this relationship that I have with my daughter. We had really rough start and it makes me so happy that I'm able to still be going strong.

    Em

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