Murphy’s Law was in full effect this week. After a couple of weeks at daycare with no sickness, the youngest came down with a bug and needed to stay home. When I had all the time in the world, he was healthy. As soon as I started back at work, the bug hit. Of course it would.
I was ready for this. You have to be when you make the transition back to work from paternity leave and your child is just starting daycare. They are bound to come down with something. I thought I had given myself a little more buffer with him starting daycare towards the start of the month. Still, I had told my work that they could expect a spotty work schedule from me here at the start and I’m glad that I did. Even more glad that the teammates and work environment are empathetic and supportive.
Things will settle down quickly here and I’ll be back in the groove of work in no time. Despite the stress I feel of wanting to hit the ground running at work and dive into things, I was reminded of why I took the time away from work in the first place.
I was sitting on a call with my back to our living room window / door. I heard a shouting behind me and thought some kids on the walk way were having a tantrum. The shouting happened again and between topics on the call my subconsciousness was picking up my middle child’s name from the noise. I turned around and saw my son’s two best buds on the pathway trying to get my attention. With my earpiece still in and asking my call to hold a second, I gave a big wave back and shouted that I was on the phone in a meeting. We all bowed, gave some more waves, and then they headed towards the park. Without my son or me. It was bittersweet and pulled hard on my heartstrings. I turned my attention back to the call and dove back into work, but my soul was still lingering on the moment.
I stress about the getting the work done, but it’s never done. Family time is time constrained. It doesn’t come back. I’m glad we had a few more days this week to hang around the house, even if the boys weren’t 100%. I’m going to miss these days soon.