I don't want to "Fall Back"

Tonight is the night that Daylight Saving Time ends and we put our clocks back an hour. I always dread the time change. Not only does it mess with my schedule and cause me a week (at least!) of trying to figure out what time it is and get my sleeping back on track, but it totally screws up the kids at daycare. Again, for at least a week they are cranky and tired because their sleep schedules are messed up. What was nap time last week (12:00 pm) will now be lunch time (11:00 am) which means some of the kids will be too tired to eat, they will end up going to nap without having much if any lunch and wake up even more miserable because they are starving.

And on top of the time change, it is also a full moon this week. I know that a lot of people out there think that the full moon doesn't effect people in any way, but when you have worked with kids for as long as I have, you KNOW that there is a change in the way they act and behave for about a week around a full moon. They are louder, busier and overall more difficult to deal with.

So, I am bracing myself for a LONG, BUSY and EXHAUSTING week. I think that I will just go hibernate for the winter. Would someone please come wake me up when it is time to "Spring Forward"?

Happy Halloween from the cutest little bumble bee ever!

Liam wore his adorable bumble bee costume (Thanks Aunty Danny) to daycare yesterday and of course everyone thought he was adorable! Of course he is too young to understand or even care about Halloween . . . all that matters to him is that everyone is gushing over him! Tonight, we didn't do the trick or treating thing, we did however take some pictures with the pumpkin and go to Grandma's house.

At home, it was just another night. We live on a country road with six houses and no other kids, so just like every other year, we had no trick or treaters. In some ways it is nice, because we don't have to spend the money on candy and listen to the dogs bark like idiots every time someone comes to the door, but it takes the fun out Halloween. We don't even carve a pumpkin anymore. However I am sure that will change next year when Liam is a little older. Maybe next year I will actually get my halloween decorations out of the box that they have been hidden away in for years . . . if I can find the box . . . I should start looking now . . .

Where did my "Me Time" go?

Time for work . . .

Time for bed . . .

Bath time . . .

Time to . . .

Not enough time . . .

Need to find time . . .

Someday when I have time . . .

I don't have time . . .

My life suddenly seems to revolve around time. It is always time to do something. There is always a list of things to do when there is time. What happened to spare time? free time? me time? It has vanished, probably forever. Although I am not quite sure that it has been missing for long enough to be declared legally dead, I am grieving the loss of my precious "me time". I am hoping that someday it will be found, possibly hidden in the back of closet that is waiting for me to find the time to clean it out or under a pile of dust bunnies that is quickly growing into a mountain while waiting for me to find the time to vacuum, but until them, I will survive on memories. Memories of uninterrupted reading or hours of scrap booking while sipping wine. I hope that my "me time" comes back before my precious memories fade away.

Sick baby update . . .

Well, Tuesday, Liam had a right fine time with Grandma, Aunty Margaret and Aunty Regan, and his Grandma's house best friend, Kelly (Aunty Margaret's cocker spaniel). He didn't have a fever all day, so we thought that we were good to go. Off to daycare went my happy little bear. But things went down hill at lunch time on Thursday. First he vomited up all his lunch, which wasn't a huge concern to me as he has been coughing and vomiting the odd time since he's had this cold, but then they discovered that he had a fever . . . 101.4 F. And that meant that he needed to be sent home.

The ironic thing was that Thursday afternoon was the first time since my promotion that I was covering in the office. And the first thing that I had to do was send my own kid home with a fever! After numerous phone calls between Dad, Grandma and myself, we finally came up with a plan! (What made everything even more difficult to figure out was the fact that Aunty Margaret was in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Why is it that everything has to happen at the same time?) I rushed out on my lunch break and got some baby tylenol for my poor little fever boy . . . and it's a good thing that I did, by the time I got back with it, his fever was 102.2 F.

Friday, Liam spent the day with Grandma. Although he was in a great mood most of the day, the fever never really went away. Baby tylenol would keep it down, but when ever it wore off, the fever went right back up. But, with everything else going on, there was just no way to get him to the doctor, Daddy had been off sick two days this week and couldn't take anymore time and we were insanely busy at work so there was no way I could leave either.

So, this morning we got up and headed off to the walk-in clinic. Thankfully we got there just after it opened and there was only one person ahead of us! The Dr was very nice and efficient. And my poor little bear has a sinus infection. :( Ten days of amoxicillin and my baby should be as good as new!

I have to say I can't believe what a little trooper he is . . . through all of this, he has been pretty much his usual happy self. I know what sinus infections are like. I am NOT happy or even tolerable when I have one! I am downright miserable! I have a pretty incredible little boy!

Sick baby

My little bear is sick. He's had a runny nose for about a week and a half, a cough for a few days and finally today, he hardly ate anything and has a fever. :( Now, I am not complaining, I know first hand how much kids can get sick when they are in daycare and know that many babies get sick within their first week or two of daycare because their little immune systems are just about non-existent (Liam has made it just over a month) but I feel bad for my poor little guy. However, aside from the lack of appetite, (which was better for Mommy at supper time than it was at daycare today) he doesn't seem to be too bothered by anything. He is his usual happy self . . . until you wipe his nose, then he lets you know that you are pissing him off royally and then goes right back to being happy!

Tomorrow, because of the fever, he can't go to daycare. And I have to go to work, so does Dad. So, we are packing little bear up and taking him to spend the day with Grandma and Aunty Margaret. I know that he will be fine with them and that they will take good care of him, but I feel bad that I can't be with him when he isn't feeling well. I know that I don't have a choice, there is absolutely no way that I can get the day off work, but I can't help but feel like I am letting him down and that I am a bad mommy. I know that I'm not, I know that he will probably have a fun day at Grandma's house, but it doesn't change the fact that I feel like a horrible mom. :(

Nine months . . .

Where does time go?? My little bear hit the big 9 month mark last Friday (Sept. 25) . . . how is it possible that it has been 9 months since he was born?? And how did I get a kid that is so frigging cute?? And so amazingly good? I just don't know! However, I do know how lucky I am!! I know that kids aren't all cute and that they certainly aren't all good! My supervisor at work, Rhonda, told me the other day that in 22 years of working in daycare she has never seen a baby who has adjusted to daycare so well and who has is as good and as happy as Liam! :)

I finally today took his 9 month pictures. I have been doing a monthly photo shoot with him and a few of his stuffed animals every months since he was one month old so that we will have something to look back on to compare what he looked like and how much he grew month to month! It is amazing to see the change! Someday, when his first year is over (and I get the time to start his scrapbook) I will do a page of 1 month to 12 month pictures with the same stuffed animal. If I ever get it done, it will make a great page!

Promotion

Maybe going back to work early was a good idea after all! Yesterday, I was promoted to Head Teacher of the Toddler Program. It is a position that I never expected to be available to me, because the former Head Teacher had held the position for many years and wasn't expected to be going anywhere! However, she decided that it was time for a change and transfered to the preschool program.

When the position was announced, I let them know that I was interested, think that it would be easy, there weren't many people who were qualified for the position (5 years ECE experience), they would make a decision and it would all be done with quickly. However, I was wrong! First, all I had to do was tell my boss (reply to the e-mail she sent informing me of the position) that I was interested. Then we had to apply to our supervisor in writing, and the changed the qualifications (5 years became 1-2 years) so that more people were able to apply. That worried me a little, because it made me wonder if they had someone else in mind for the promotion. Regardless, I submitted my letter waited to see what was going to happen.

A few days later, they decided that they needed updated resumes. That was when I started to really panic! I hadn't updated or even looked at my resume since I'd been hired at the daycare in 2001! I didn't even know where it was! AND they asked for it on a Friday, and wanted it by Monday! However, I found a copy of my seriously outdated resume and was able to revise it and add to it and have it in good shape in only a couple of hours. Crisis averted!!

Then came the next surprise . . . INTERVIEWS! They had said in the beginning, they were not doing interviews, but they also said they didn't want updated resumes. Much like my resume, I haven't had a job interview since 2001! And this was going to be quite the interview . . . two supervisors, the director and the owner all staring at me as I fumbled for my answers! Not to mention the fact that they had no idea when they were going to do said interviews, so it was a waiting game!

We finally found out on Tuesday (two weeks after submitting resumes) that Wednesday was the day. Finally, an end to the worry and the gossip, because you know that EVERYONE was talking about who was going to get the promotion and what would happen when they did. Interviews were scheduled between 1pm and 3pm. After 3pm, we (there were three of us in the toddler program who applied and had to spend the afternoon together, waiting for news!) were on pins and needles hoping that a decision would be made by the end of the day and wondering who the lucky person was!

When my shift was over, we still hadn't heard anything and were convinced that we weren't going to get an answer until today. We were sure that we would be stressing and speculating for another night. But much to my surprise, my supervisor was waiting for me as I went to leave to give me the news . . . I was the new Head Teacher!

Now that the stress of waiting and wondering is over, it is time for me to begin to learn the specifics of my new position! Tomorrow I am to meet with my supervisor to go over all of my responsibilities and everything. And Monday it is official, I am will be the Head Teacher! I am very happy and excited with this new position!