Monday secret

The Toddler was nowhere to be found this afternoon when I went to pick her up. She was not outside with the rest of the children...

I found her in her class, all on her own! Playing alone.

Sometimes it breaks a mother’s heart when they have to fend all by themselves. I don’t think anything bad or untoward happened, and I am not worried...

But she ran to me, and buried her face in my neck. She was extremely glad to see me on the Monday afternoon!

I wish I do not have to leave her there for so many hours every day!

She did not want to tell us what she was doing there, and the Teen joked that she had swallowed her tongue. Which she promptly stuck out of her mouth!

She’s growing up, and already she has a world I have no part off!





 
But, it is still the best part of my day as well: Picking up my daughter from day care!

Each and every day!




Photo: Patrick Pretorius Photography


Related post:


Ways to deal with the guilt of being a working mother

Ways to deal with the guilt of being a working mother

Powerwoman says enough is enough! Why do we have to feel guilty as working mothers when we have to leave our babies at someplace else when we go off to work? Some of us have a choice. Which is absolutely fine! Some of us don’t! Like me! I have to work to cover the finances...


I am compiling a silly (NOT!) list of ways dealing with working mother’s guilt:

• Take out your payslip (note, not bank statement) and check the amount you get every month! Say to yourself this is what you are giving back to your family.
• Buy your baby the expensive outfit when faced with choice.
• When you are asked about your career say smugly that you are a working mom! Expand laboriously about all the skills and experience that you have built up. (Do not let on that you are secretly wishing to be a SAHM...)
• Pour a glass of red wine at the end of a long working day! (You deserve it!)
• Linger over a cup of coffee... Whenever! Especially when at work!
• Spend some extra quality time with baby (toddler or child) when you arrive home. Do not immediately jump into house work, because the house is clean. (Supposed to, because nobody was at home to dirty it.)
• Think of all the extra social skills your child are acquiring while at day care!
• Pat yourself on the back! “Well done, working Mom!” Regularly!
• Enjoy your own enjoyment when you see the look of delight on your baby’s face when you go to pick them up after a long day!
• Cherish weekends with the baby! You are not feeling overwhelmed after a long week with children. You missed them during the week!
• Marvel at the fact that you don’t get impatient with the little ones when they get whiney! You have built up lots of patience by being away from them every day!
• You have a decent excuse when asked to do something at school! Use it!
• You can go shopping during lunch-time without a toddler in tow!
• You are able to meet a colleague/friend during lunch without having to drag the toddler with.
• When Hubby complains about his working day, you are able to complain about your own working day as well! “Mine was the worst!”
• You can expect Hubby to help out with ALL the housework! No sitting down with newspaper and beer /coffee for him after a long working day! No, Mister! (My Hubby does his fair share and more! Thanks, Dries!)
• Pat yourself on the back! Again! “Well done, working Mom!”

It seems that this is a work in progress! Do you have any other suggestions? (It is a lot of fun!)

Working Moms rock! (Smug smiley face!)

Related post:
A day in the working mom

The toddler and socialising

The working mother always stresses about leaving her child in day care. But one thing she doesn’t have to worry about is the socialising of the child. Day care or crèche or play school takes care of all the socialising needs of the baby, toddler and pre-schooler. Dionna at Code Name Mama reminded me again today that that is something that a SAHM (Stay-at-home-mom) have to be more aware off to ensure that their child is getting socialising skills. Maxabella also had something to say about mixing mamahood and work today - you have to deal wih the guilt that is a "permanent lodger".

Something that a working mother can check off! My toddler learns to socialise every day at day care! (Smug smile!)

On Tuesday I took the toddler and myself to the doctor. This year I can’t seem to shake the allergic sinusitis that’s been bugging me. And the toddler also struggles with it. We coughed terribly during the nights. The doctor wanted to book us off for a few days, but there is too much to be done. I asked her if it was okay if I took the toddler to day care. She said that it is not the ultimate solution, but that she understands. She believes in children going to day care because it is the best for their socialising behaviour. They do get sick more often – usually every two months – but that is something that is sorted by the time they go to school.

But I still felt bad when I went to drop the toddler off after that at the day care... (The working mother’s guilt!)

I have a teen that had to go to a day mother (and after that crèche) since she was three months old. She is now one of the best well-adjusted children that I know with regards her socialising skills. She is relaxed in every socialising situation and keeps her own. She has a lot of friends and we usually marvel about how easy she talks to anybody! Not how I remember myself as a socially akward child and teen who struggled through her school years. Luckily it got better during university...

Mieka, the toddler, also gets along with adults very easily. She does not shy away when somebody wants to engage with her. When I walk with her into day care in the morning, she starts saying the names of some of her class mates. One of the favourites is Ané. I hope that she will also benefit socially like her sister did.

(Powerwoman does the right thing! Yes, I need some positiveness today!)

(Photo: Mieka at Tiny Tumbles on Saturday)

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A day in the working mom
The toddler - day care shuffles
Day care woes

Working mother's guilt

Yesterday afternoon I was trying to avoid getting stuck in the traffic in Auckland Park where I work, and the more I tried to avoid the long queues, the longer the queues got in the side streets. I ended up in Brixton, even more stuck. It is all these road works going on everywhere, and some roads are closed and some narrowed to one lane only. I quickly googled it just now , and apparently it is for the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, intended for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The road works have been going on for months now, and I presume it is going to get worse until the Word Cup. My only goal in the afternoons is to get to the baby as quickly as possible. It is terrible to leave her there from half past six in the mornings until quarter past four in the afternoons. It adds up to nearly ten hours, more hours than I spend at work during a day. Aargh! And then we have about five hours of her each night before she goes to sleep. We sometimes have more with the not sleeping, and in that I can find a positive outlook on the sleeping problem. (Smile) The hours that I am not with her, contribute to my guilt as a working mother. But I know, millions of women have to cope with the same thing…