Lately I've been busy, busy, busy. We own a home that we rent out, and the last tenant just moved out. He left behind, shall we say, more than his fair share of muck for me to clean up. We're talking about a 2000 square foot home, badly in need of deep cleaning, weeding, painting, new carpet, and various repairs. Quite a bit of TLC. Thankfully, I've been getting some help from family. It's way too big of a job for me to handle on my own!
I've been spending a bunch of time there working on the place the last week or two. Mostly Hazel's been with me, playing with toys on a blanket, trucking around the house with me in the Bjorn, or fitfully trying to take a nap in an unfamiliar local (good luck with that one - she hardly even sleeps when we're at home!). But today I started painting, so I needed a fume-free place for her to chill all week.
My sister Emily accepted the job, bless her heart. It's good timing that she just graduated from BYU last week so she's actually got some time to spare. So her little apartment is daycare this week. I dropped Hazel off this morning with blankets, toys, milk, diapers, the Bjorn, the pack 'n' play, etc. That little woman requires a ton of equipment to happily make it through a day away from home!
All day long I worked my tail off painting. I thought of Hazel a couple of times, and reflected on how strange it was to be without my little sidekick, but I knew she was happier with Emily than she would be at the house (she let me know yesterday that she had HAD IT with washing and taping walls!). With Emily, she'd be around someone who had time to talk to her, make faces at her, tickle her, etc. . . And, of course, take her on the illustrious walk outside - a never-fail remedy for fussiness. I called a few times, and she was always doing well. Even sort of took a nap.
But I wasn't quite prepared for how I would feel when I picked Hazel up at the end of the day. I walked into Emily's apartment, and there was the Haz, going to town chomping on a rubber duck as she lay on her tummy on the floor. Good as gold. And I missed her like crazy. It was already 5:45. I knew I had to just strap her into her carseat and get her home, and once we got there, she would be dying to go to bed. (Which she was.) That was it, my day with her. Wake her up, feed and dress her. Spend some time in the car. Give Emily instructions and leave. Pick her up, spend more time in the car, bathe and feed her, and put her in bed. That's all I got of Hazel today. And that's all I'm getting all week long until the darn painting is done.
I may be a single mom for a year, but I am so grateful I don't have to be a working mom, too. It tore my heart out to be doing it for just a few days. I feel like I missed a huge chunk of Hazel's life, and I'll never get it back. I'm thankful to be able to spend my days with my little Robin. She and I are going to be buds for life, I think. I like having her around.
7 comments:
I was just thinking yesterday how much I would like to have a buddy like that. So excited for this kiddo to come.
I'm glad that you are able to stay home with your Haz and not have to work. :)
I subbed all day on Friday and I wanted an entire recap of Macey's day: what new things did she say, what she ate, did she play with the other kids, what mischief did she get in... I never would of thought I'd be so happy being a stay at home mom.
Call us when you ever have time. :) Let me know if you need help cleaning/painting too, Macey is hypnotized by movies, so that gives me a good hour and a half w/o interruptions.
what a great post -- sorry that you have so much work to get done...hope you had a good deposit from that guy!
hazel is lucky to have you!
AB-
I can relate, I have been living in an empty house for the past 3 days as my girls have been off to Woman's Conf. I actually paused at the door yesterday reflecting about how much fun it is to see my girls smiling at me as I walk through the door each day after work. I miss the smiles and giggles and I have to avoid glancing over as I'm walking past the crib in Molly's room when I leave for work. It is just not the same without them. But, it's a good reminder to make the most of every moment you have with your loved ones and to cherish the thoughts of them that you have throughout the day when you can't be with them. All in all, I am glad we don't have to daycare-out our little one to meet financial ends- what a blessing!
She's so cute -- who would want to be without her???
I'm a little jealous. I don't get to be a stay at home mom for a while. Oh well. no sense feeling sorry over it. I'll get my chance to be home with my babies as soon as I can.
I think posts like this one will help Hazel appreciate what a great mom you are when she's older, because it illustrates so well how much you love her! Hazel is an absolute doll, you two go together like peas in a pod.
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