lessons learned

It’s been a busy week here! Between custom orders and new doodles and shop updates and baby fun, I’m learning to juggle many roles, old and new. Tomorrow we throw another into the mix: The Day Job.

If you’d asked me 8 weeks ago how I was feeling about going back to work, I might have thrown the baby at you and said, “I’ll see you at 5!” Now I’m feeling more ambivalent, but I think it will be OK. If parenthood has taught me anything, it’s that plans and expectations are for people without kids.

For example:

• We planned a drug-free home birth and ended up at the hospital saying “Epidural, please!”
• I planned to breastfeed exclusively, but milk supply issues nipped that in the bud, so now Ellie is all too familiar with Mr. Bottle and Mrs. Enfamil.
• I spent most of my pregnancy reading anything and everything about sleep training, fearing I’d never see an eight-hour stretch again, only to discover our daughter is a champion sleeper.
• I planned to cloth diaper almost exclusively, but my first encounter with formula poop was enough to convince me that $40 for a bulk box of disposables at Sam’s Club is money well spent.
• I told myself that no baby needs fancy schmancy toys to thrive, so we would not be spending money on the latest and greatest baby swings, bouncers, or playthings… she’d live on love and her imagination. And then I met Mr. Fisher Price and the Precious Planet series.

And the list goes on.

So although I’m feeling a little sad about heading back to the office, I’ve decided to approach it like everything else in my life these days… with no firm expectations whatsoever. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.