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Compartment 14B

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Finally, I have time to breathe. And write.

2009-09-09 - 1:35 p.m.

It�s certainly been an interesting couple of weeks. And by �interesting�, I mean �busy as all-get-out�.

My 15-month maternity leave is at an end and today, my friends, I am sitting at a desk in my new office. You would not believe the magnificent view I have of our Parliament buildings, though the trade off is blinky, watery eyes when the sun shines too brightly (i.e., when it�s shining at all). People have asked if it�s hard to go back to work and I refrain from clicking my heels and yodelling, but instead rather cautiously reply �not really�. Lest they mentally tag me as a bad mother, I then hastily go on to explain that it�s because I�m so newly back that it feels like I�m on vacation from my �real life�.

The truth is though, I enjoy being at work. Oh, I miss my little Biscuit and Grommet, and I don�t necessarily enjoy all the aspects of this particular job, but I like working with my head again. I like dressing in nice clothes that remain un-smeared by crackers and yogurt all day (well, unless I happen to have crackers or yogurt myself; let�s face it, I�m not the tidiest eater). I like having a boss and co-workers that value my work. I like eating lunch and being able to devote my entire attention to the adult conversation in which I�m participating, instead of monitoring every little bit of food that is being placed in front of a small, underweight child who is just as likely to toss it on the floor as eat it. I like � glory be! � that I�m earning an income again. And it�s not like I�m working for pin money just to cover the cost of daycare: I�m the chief wage-earner in the household and my salary is what really keeps us solvent. We�ve missed my paycheques these last three months.

So no, I haven�t cried when I left my howling child in someone else�s arms in the morning. I feel bad for him and miss him and would definitely spend more hours of my day with him if I could, but I know that work is a necessity and not a terribly difficult-to-take one at that. Plus I am told he really only howls until I�ve been out of sight for a couple of minutes.

As an added bonus to assuage my guilt, he seems to be eating more food now that he�s at daycare, and I mean both in terms of variety and volume. The latter might be attributed to the new regimen he�s on (short story: the gastroenterologist has him on Prevacid every day, plus thinks dairy might be causing him problems so we�ve been cutting back on it), but the variety is largely due to being introduced to the eating habits of a new household. And this household contains vegetarians from a different ethnic background so he�s starting to eat things like lentils and roti. While his family doc will no doubt be less than impressed that he�s gained no weight in the month leading up to his well-baby visit next week, we can at least attest that he�s starting to eat more, and that we are taking action by going to doctors and dieticians and following their recommendations.

Biscuit�s dietician appointment will be on the 24th. I�m already trying to do some preliminary work like recording the kind of stuff he will and won�t eat, plus looking for ideas on what else I can try to do. Anyone else got any ideas? I�m not just looking for recipes that are egg- and dairy-free, I�m looking for insight on how to get a picky almost-toddler to actually eat the foods he needs to, plus any words of wisdom on pitfalls to avoid/kinds of things I might be overlooking. Or maybe even just some commiseration and sympathy? I�ll take what I can get folks.

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