A typical day

They said time speeds up when you’re having fun. Q is 8.5 months now and sometimes when I look at him, its hard to believe that all that time has passed and we barely registered it. Of course, when we concertedly think back, I realize that its true that loads have happened and as a family we have indeed done loads.

This is what a typical day is like for us:

0700hrs: Q wakes by standing up in his cot and calling out for me to come get him.
0715hrs: I acede cos I usually spend about 15 minutes bargaining with the lil boss.
0720hrs: Milk #01.
0730hrs: Q poops in glorious fashion.
0735hrs: Invariably, its bath time.
0745hrs: Q plays by himself while I do my morning tackle of emails and work.
0815hrs: I juggle between doing work and entertaining Q cos by now he doesn’t want to play solo anymore.
0830hrs: Breakfast and we wake daddy for work.
0845hrs: More play time and mummy heads to clear yet more work. Daddy goes to work.
0915hrs: Helper comes over, I get a small reprieve to bathe and generally get ready for my day.
0930hrs: Mummy is in full work mode.
1000hrs: Q takes his morning nap, helper sorts our floors, Mummy sorts work.
1030hrs: Q wakes up- again by calling out for me to come get him (meh meh!).
1030hrs: More play time, we also get Q ready for playgroup.
1100hrs: We attend playgroup.
1130hrs: Milk #02
1230hrs: Playgroup ends, Q crashes for the duration of car ride home
1300hrs: Bath then lunch for everyone!
1330hrs: Q takes his afternoon nap. I work. Alot.
1445hrs: Q wakes up and its errand time
1500hrs: Milk #03, though usually its half a bottle.
1530hrs: Story time, music time, home gym time for Q. We usually play hide and seek.
1600hrs: Tea time of small snacks and fruit.
1630hrs: More play time
1700hrs: If weather permits, we swim. If not, we play.
1730hrs: Bath time! I sort dinner out, Q heads for yet more playtime.
1830hrs: Daddy comes back from work. Q heads for some daddy time.
1900hrs: Dinner for everyone! Q gets milk #04 and some food.
1930hrs: Family time.
2030hrs: Q sleeps.
0000hrs: Milk #05
0400hrs: Milk #06
0700hrs: Wash, rinse, repeat!

I’m a full time working stay at home mom

Hello, I’m a full time working stay at home mom.

I envy full time stay at home moms to and extent because they rule the roost, so to speaks. They spend their day being fully committed and devoted to their home and hearth. They are Moms with a capital M. Their day- no less hectic than their working counterparts- is in a clear defined space of home management, bub time, husband time and self time. They are what I call domestic engineers. Or CHOs, Chief Home Officers. Most of the full time stay at home moms I know, seem to upkeep themselves rather well; and no, not all of them have helpers to help. Though, in most cases then, they live with family which, I guess, amounts to the same thing. But that’s another issue for another day. But, yes, these FTSAHM have their work cut out for them.

I also envy full time working moms, to the extent that they have a designated time, space and place to work. For A predetermined period of time, they work. They are not concerned with what to next feed the bub, or when their nap might be, or how best to entertain the little ones. They are cloistered at work dealing with adults, deadlines, assignments and other not-my-child related things. Then when they are done with work, they come back to their family (husband and kids) and they return to their mom/wife title. When desired, they take leave, they take time off and leave their emails, assignments and even office politics behind.

To a large degree I also envy part time working moms. These are moms who take a portion of their day out to work. In my cousin’s case, she works till one then she returns home to her kids most of which would have just been done with school or their huge morning nap. She still gets to have that designated time out to work; in a space that is specially set aside for working.

I am none of the above, yet I am all of the above. I am a full time working stay at home mom.

When we found out we were pregnant we made concerted efforts to cut back on work. My brilliant team stepped up gloriously but somehow when I find myself with spare bandwidth work and life finds ways to fill it with more stuff. I was engaged, invariably, in project consults and still being part of the several organizations I work with outside of works. Four days after Q was born, I had clients over at my house where I had a meeting while nursing at the table. In hind sight, it was hilarious.

Over the last eight months, work has steadily piled up and I’ve had to take on more work: launching new brands, product lines, break new markets. All whilst managing Q and ensuring I still am a full time mom to Q; I take little time off from him still taking him personally to his mandarin classes and kindermusik classes, toting him about when I run my errands. We find time to swim- at one stage daily cos the weather permitted, and to playgroups.

which communicator are you?

Read this today and it really resonated with me:

by Dr. Gary Chapman of the 5 Love Language fame

Unhealthy Patterns of Communication

We talk a lot about the importance of communication in relationships, but we don’t often evaluate our communication. You see, communication is not enough because how we talk greatly affects the quality of our conversation. Many have developed unhealthy patterns of communication, and wonder why their conversations seem to go down hill. Below are a few of the most common patterns…

The Placator
“That’s fine with me.” Or, “Whatever you want is fine.” It’s really not “fine”, but this person does not like arguments, so, on the surface they simply agree, but inside they resent the attitude of the other person. We will never have an authentic relationship until we learn to share our honest thoughts and feelings. You might begin by asking, “Would you really like to know my thoughts?” If they say, “yes”, then share them.

The Blamer
There are many unhealthy patterns of communication, but none as deadly as “The Blamer.” “It’s your fault.” “If it weren’t for you everything would be fine.” “You never do anything right.” “I don’t know how you could be so stupid.” No matter what it is, the blamer will blame their spouse and in the process destroys intimacy and make communication impossible.

An ancient Hebrew proverb says, “A fool does not delight in understanding, but only wants to show off his opinions.” If you are a blamer, I urge you to apologize to the person you so often blame. Your relationship will never improve until you admit your destructive words and seek to understand the other person’s perspective.

The Professor
If you are married and you take pride in being reasonable, and you see your spouse as being unreasonable, you are in the process of destroying your marriage. The person I’m talking about is calm, cool and collected. He believes that if you will listen to his arguments, you will be forced to agree. Any sane person could not disagree.

“Let’s be reasonable,” they say, as they envision themselves as being a person of logic.”Let me explain this to you one more time.” The implication is that if you will just listen, you will understand and thus agree. This person makes no room for emotions. All that matters is logic. But I remind you that God made us emotional creatures and if you don’t allow for emotions, you will never create an intimate marriage. Learn to listen. Treat your spouse as a person of worth. Ask for their opinions and be empathetic with their feelings.

The Statue and/or Subject Changer
This is the person who doesn’t talk. “Ignore her and she will go away” is his philosophy. Such a person will never enjoy authentic relationships. In healthy relationships, people must talk about the things that irritate them. They must seek to negotiate solutions which will respect their differences. Put your head in the sand, and your problems will get worse.

The key is not to ignore your spouse or change the subject when your spouse brings up a topic that you think will start an argument. Simply ask, “Do you want us to share our ideas and look for a solution? If so, I’m willing to talk. If we are simply going to argue, I don’t have the energy to do that. If we can respect each other’s thoughts I think we can find an answer.” Speak the truth in love and you can solve your problems.

Working Towards Healthy Communication
If you see yourself in any of the unhealthy communication patterns above and desire to change, talk with your spouse and develop healthy ways to identify these patterns when they arise. Then, set in place a plan to work towards healthy communication. And healthy communication leads to healthy relationships.

groping in the dark

Q is now almost eight months and the last few months have flown by too quickly. No, I’m not lamenting that my little bay is growing up too fast though I must admit I had one of those moments when we took him to cut his hair, but that’s another story for another day.

As with most of my posts, I am once again finding myself in “uber busy” territory. W has been away for a fortnight of reservists and I found myself trying to manage my own joint, keeping an eye on his, managing the lil one and having some version of a life. Oh, yes, there was the horrid hazy weather that made it extra hard to burn Q’s energy away. A, grateful that the weeks of trice weekly JG mandarin playgroup has given him some sort of a schedule such that he’d nap, if only for a short while, at the designated time.

Other than today where he decided to, despite sending him to Kindermusik class, he’s been fighting sleep which led to a melt down en route to my cousin’s place. It was not a pretty sight, no less, the darn ECP was jammed all the way. Sigh. Yes, he hates the car seat. (Am hyper envious of those moms who says their kid gets lulled by the car seat.)

Anyway, back to my point. All this busyness is taking a toll on my health- am feeling perpetually under the weather even though I’m not sick and am tired all the time. This mummy business is exhausting. And with so many curved balls thrown at me I find myself groping about in the dark a fair bit.

I suppose its a state I gotta come to terms with eh?

Q: the energizer bunny

To say that Q is an active boy is an understatement. Each day is a battle to entertain him such that when night comes, its not a battle to burn off the unspent energy so that he’d sleep. Yes, people tell me that he takes after me in the energy hyper-bunny department. And yes, I did wish- in this sleepy baby first month days- that he’d be more interactive. Ah.. well.

Take today for example:

He woke at 9am after which played till he napped for about an hour from about 12. Well, he bathed in between and that in itself, is like a trip to Disney Land for him- he loves bathtime, to say the least.

After he woke at 1+, he played somemore- we are doing transportation in our home class till it was time for lunch (squash and rice cereal!) which he ate with gusto and got all messy and dirty. Part of the baby led weaning ?

Then we got ready for Mandarin playgroup which, while was a great learning experience and great fun, was extremely tiring for this mummy who is still recovering from an action packed weekend.

Two hours later- if you include transport time- Q finally naps from all the mandarin excitement of story telling, games, activities, outdoor fun… for a grand total of 30mins. (Better than nothing, we take what he gives us)

After a power nap, the boy is all charged up and dad takes him swimming for 15min cos this tired mummy needed her own power nap.

After a swim, which we HOPED would tire him out… sigh, no such luck….. he keeps up his squawking, the jumping and crawling and what have you till 8pm when I finally succeed in putting him down to bed.

Tomorrow: wash, rinse, repeat.

you’d think I was crazy

So, I signed Q up for Mandarin Playgroup.

Yes, you must be thinking that I have gone mad with the classes since its THREE times a week fro 1.5hrs each day. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays. This is in addition to Friday’s Kindermusik classes.

But, really, to an extent, its a relief that there’s something each day- PLANNED- to entertain, educate and engage Q.

I’m trying this out for a term to see how I take it.

I have no more life.

the craziness that has become my life

The last four weeks has been one of the busiest months I’ve had in the last few years.

Yes, and this includes the mad rush to prep for the bub because we left our baby buying till I was almost into my 8th month. This also includes the crazy period we were trying to run two companies while planning a wedding and doing major renovations on the house. This also includes the time where I was triple booked for trainings whilst flying here and there to deal with overseas clients, projects and consults.

The last four weeks has seen W and I juggle the boy, the companies, the projects, the boy, his many social and familial obligations, our many social and familial obligations, W’s travels, Q’s 6 month growth spurt fussiness, the launch of new projects, product lines, sourcing for suppliers, new markets, company retreat… you get the idea.

To cap it all, we had to go for a staycation for the FIL’s birthday at the Marina Bay Sands which we were hoping to be the much needed reprieve in the middle of the madness- key word here ? Hoping. Before this post becomes a tirade of complains about how underwhelmed I was about the Marina Bay Sands and how because of the poor weather, general crowdedness of the place and the unexpected claustaphobic-ness of the whole notion of being in a foreign place while technically ten minutes from the comfort and convenience of home… The boys did, I’m sure, but safe to say, I did not enjoy myself.

I came home to meetings, then an incidence with a missing cash card, more crowd since it was the day before the long Hari Raya weekend, more work that saw me work till almost four. Argh.

I give up.

being a mom

I don’t know if I would consider myself a working mom. I am not a Stay at home mom- cos I still run two companies. I am also not a full time working mom- cos I do get to stay and work from home. I guess, I’m in that weird little group called Part Time Working Moms: I get to sometimes be a stay at home mom, and sometimes be a working working mom.

www.modernmom.com got it right when they designed their logo of a woman with eight arms balancing everything. Well, its a concept, a vision, the endstate we moms try to achieve.

Of everything that Motherhood has thrown at me, this balancing act has been the hardest and I came across this that I am hoping will help…

10 tips for balancing work and motherhood

Extracted from here.

1. Get–and stay–organized. Your work time is precious and not as dependable as it would be if you worked in a traditional workplace. You can’t afford to waste time looking for files, sorting through junk mail or even finding a pen. Keep everything clean and organized from the start. Have supplies available and in a place where you know you can immediately put your hands on them.

2. Have a plan. Some mompreneurs use paper organizers and some use tech gadgets, but all of them use some sort of planner to balance their work life with their family life. (Personally, I love the “Chaos Companion” organizer by Mommy Hulabaloo . It’s a complete mom-inspired day planner.) Ideally, you should keep both personal and work appointments on the same calendar so you don’t overbook or double up. And while it doesn’t always work, you need to set aside hours for when you’re going to get your work done. If you just wait for it to happen, it never will. Of course, you’ll have to be flexible as your child-care provider will inevitably cancel, your kids will get sick and your spouse may occasionally need to work late.

3. Work with your family, not against them . When your children are little, make sure your office is kid-proof. Get covers for your computer and child-safe drawers on your filing cabinet, and keep your paperwork out of reach if you don’t want your reports and invoices covered in crayon. Some women I’ve spoken with set up a child’s office space within their office so that crayons, paper and activities are available to keep their kids busy. As your children get older, find ways to get them involved in your work. When they’re old enough, let them stamp envelopes, fold fliers or shred paper. Just never let them answer the phone!

4. Think nap to nap, not 9 to 5. Break out of the 9-to-5 office hours’ tradition. Your hours as a mompreneur might start before your family wakes up, continue during nap times and go on into the wee hours of the night. Prioritize appointments that need to be accomplished in person during the traditional day time hours. But understand that e-mail, filing, reading, and a lot of your other office tasks can be done at any hour of the day or night.

5. Stay ahead of the game. By the time evening hits, yes, you’re exhausted. But take a few minutes to set out school clothes, set up the coffeepot, prepare lunches and clear your desk. You’ll be so grateful to have a less chaotic morning if you do all this the night before. You might also want to consider getting up a little before your family does so you can exercise, take a showeror get some work done.

6. Suzy Homemaker who? You don’t have to be Suzy Homemaker to be a good mom. Let go of your need to be Martha Stewart. Your priorities are your family and then your work. You don’t have to be the mom that bakes the school brownies from scratch or hand-makes the costume for the school play. Choose your priorities–your kids will care more that you’re there!

7. Schedule a mommy day. Every Tuesday used to be so stressful for me because I didn’t have a nanny or my husband to help out at all. I prayed for long naps and few interruptions. Needless to say, most of the time, it didn’t happen. So I finally decided to make Tuesdays a “mommy day.” I worked more on Monday night and Wednesday to make sure I could have Tuesdays to myself. Now when I get work done on that day, it’s an extra perk and not a source of distress.

8. Stay focused, and don’t get sidetracked. One of the hardest things for work-at-home moms is getting sidetracked by children, laundry, dishes.well, you name it. Make a list each month of what you intend to get done. Then break the list down week by week, then day by day. If you stay focused, you can stay committed to getting things done.

9. Get help from your partner, then thank him for it. It’s very difficult to succeed without help, so communicate with your partner about how he can help you–you both need to remember you’re juggling two full-time jobs. Figure out how to parent and chore-share so you’re both on the same page. Then tell your spouse how grateful you are for all his help.

10. Take care of you. How can you work out when you don’t have enough time with your kids? How can you take a bubble bath when you’re behind on a report? Realize now that there will never be enough time in the day to get everything done. Your in-box will still be full when you die, so learn to accept that fact now. It may seem like a cliché, but in this case, it’s the truth: You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of your family, yourbusiness and your home. Just mark it in your calendar!

crazy busy: moving non stop

W and I decided when we were pregnant with Q that we’d learn to take things easy; pace ourselves and not take on more than we can manage. We decided that we needed to carve out hard landscapes- days, portions of days and time slots of rest that were carved in stone.

Needless to say, we failed miserably.

Four days after Q was born, we started seeing clients. No surprises for a dad to go back to work, but yeah, I had to begin seeing clients since the boy came early and I was right smack in the middle of a project for a client. I continued to work from home, over the telephone and receiving clients at home since going out was tough back then: I was nursing exclusively and Q was one of those that would nurse for an hour every other hour. To say it was a tough time is to understate how bad things were for me, my emotional state and my general well being.

We survived it and found some measure of balance. We learned to cope with extremely little sleep, working in the middle of the night and we begin to live the concept of MULTI-TASKING. It made us stronger as a couple, as individuals. I had really supportive colleagues who picked up the slack and then some- which went a long way towards my being able to (somehow) stay sane.

Truth is, I don’t know how we managed the last five months. Q’s gotten more aware of things and he’s learning things at such an alarming rate it makes be infinitely glad I can sort of work from home. Its a tough struggle- daily. But we are so loving it.

turning 30

So, I turned 30 a few days ago. Yep, the big 30.

There’s a new digit in front of my age and while it makes little impact as to how I see myself and stuff, it feels a little weird to say I’m thirty. THIRTY. Thirty. W tells me that I should be glad to be 30 seeing as I’m now the youngest in my age group, exiting from being the oldest (29 of the twenties). I simply stared at him and rolled my eyes; but, yeah, I appreciate his need to find silver linings for things.

We decided to be brave and throw me a birthday party: we had guest list constrains cos we decided on this late and had limited venues up for the taking. Most were close friends and family with a new guest set that joined us: the mummy group. Which, seeing as most were from my secondary school, made for an interesting mix of people. As usual, we scrambled to get food sorted (Purple Sage did a great job), had to send e-invites and only sorted favours the night before.

And of course, most of my guests came, wished me and then made the expected beeline to go play with Q who decided he’d be on his best behaviour all day. Thank God. To top it all, Agent Chef made me a HUGE Reeses Pieces flavoured cupcake cake which totally made my day.

So, yes, I’m 30. And I think I’m ok with it.

My body and me

It does not matter that the scales tell me that I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and that SOME of my clothes fit. My body just isn’t the same.

Mainly, I think its my shoulders: they have expanded quite a fair bit due to the pregnancy-makes-your-joints-looser-in-light-of-childbirth. Actually, they have expanded alot. My shirts all fit; the chest, the waist, the general size except for the shoulders. I get to buttoning up then as I straighten up it starts to strain about my shoulders.

So, I’ve had no choice (heh!) but to his the shops for a wardrobe update. Which, sounds like a great idea, but in reality- seeing as how I have little patience for crowds, queues and am generally rather tired from dealing with a son that gets needy at 4 in the morning0 it has been such a chore.

Sure, having shopping companions like Zwieback helps a great deal, she holds my stuff when I have too much, weighs in when I can’t decide, gossips with me as I contend with the queue and prods me along to “just one more shop.” Of course, in usual fashion, most of the things I pick up sit on the black-white-brown spectrum.

Some things simply don’t change.

4 months: Where did the little baby go?!

While there have been moments where time seemed to have simply DRAGGGGEEEDDD itself out, most days pretty much fly by for me. Mainly cos Q keeps be occupied and busy with his antics and since he’s gotten older (as compared to a newborn) he’s awake more and needs to be entertained more.

It’s partly my fault really, being one of those mothers/people that finds it hard to keep still, I’ve taken Q out almost everyday. Actually, scratch that, I’ve pretty much taken Q out EVERYDAY; even if its to buy food from across the street. This, while great for me- I get to feel human, yay!- also served to help me tire the boy out so he’d sleep. Which, I’d say, worked for a fair amount of time, sometimes.

Of late, however, its begun to backfire on me. Because work’s picked up I don’t have the luxury of taking him out as often or for as long. But still, he EXPECTS a daily trip out- even if just for a stroll to the nearby mall, or across the street for a little bit. And if I don’t, he’d get cabin fever by about six in the evening and I’d cave and strap him into his carrier and take a stroll about. He just needs to GO OUT.

At four months, he’s learnt to hold himself up well in prone position, teeters on flipping over, is able to sit when semi assisted. He understands cause and effect, has learnt to put (far too many) things into his mouth and jabbers like no tomorrow. He’s stubborn, likes it when I speak to him in French for some odd reason and has a smile that I already know will get him into as much trouble as it will get him out of it.

And weighing in at 7 over kilos and standing at about 65cm, I wonder- where did the little tiny baby I brought back from the hospital go?!

what kind of mom?

Angie’s one of those older women friends that I’ve always considered my mentor. She was my sunday school teacher for many years and as I made my forays into my career then motherhood, she’s been a constant source of encouragement and wisdom. No less, she’s walked the walk: the high flying MNC job, the decision to stop after her third child to homeschool, to move into a smaller place sans maid and learn to enjoy the ride all the same. Oh, and in between, have #4, born in exciting fashion en route to the hospital.

Recently, she wrote a post on Mummy guilt. An emotional state I’ve become well acquainted with of late. No thanks to little Q. Each time I take time off to work, to do Me things or just to meet up with fellow adults (like date night) I feel a twinge of guilt. No less, Q’s been in an odd clingy I-only-want-mummy phase that has made each time I leave a little more traumatic. He gives me the saddest “why are you leaving me?” face and when I return stays glued to my side. I call it Clingfilm syndrome.

My mother friends are quick to remind me that its perfectly normal to feel guilty. Its a mom thing. And that its also perfectly OK to take time out for myself. One friend quoted the airplane emergency plan: in time of crisis, you wear the mask for yourself first then for your child.

Still, its a different consideration for each mom, parent. Some of my mother friends take periodic time out to travel sans kids. Some do so as a couple for some couple time. Others opt for the “leave kid with grandparents” so we can have time out for ourselves. My parents used to do that, leaving my sister (The Princess) and I at gramps. I think as children it was moderately fun seeing as cousins would all be around; or well, at least, I’m sure that’s how my parents reasoned it out in their heads.

When Q was born, I stubbornly insisted on doing everything myself. No confinement nanny. No mom or mother-in-law hovering about. I fed the kid myself (well, I was nursing), I bathe him myself and while I almost unravelled (breastfeeding almost did me in) I would do it the same way again if given the choice. People have called me crazy, they think I’m stubborn and stupid for the path I chose- and will continue to choose to take.

Angie sagely states that we all make our choices and we live by those choices. And I agree.

W and I choose to live really independently, taking Q with us to wherever whenever we can. We choose to enable me to work from home so one parent is around him most of the time. We choose to leave him at home with our wonderful helper rather than at grandparents so we get to come home to him without having to detour to pick him up. We choose to travel with Q and if we know we are going to have to be away from him we bring the help and have her watch him for (the hours we head to the golf course) rather than not bring him at all. We choose to have him room with us rather than be in a separate room, though he sleeps in his own cot because that’s how we’ve always imagined early parenthood to be and its how we believe it helps foster closeness. We choose to manage Q personally, in the manner we deem fit even if it sometimes exasperates the grandparents who raised us in a different paradigm.

We choose many things. And, really, its hard to say if our choices are “the correct choices.” People have such differing opinions on parenting. But all I can say is that we choose what’s right for us three. And we make no excuses for it.

getting crafty

So, I’ve decided to start myself an online craft store.

I am so excited.

Three months, Father’s day and everything in between

The last month passed in a blur. Truly.

At 6.5kg and 65cm tall, Q has now learnt to sit on his own in his bumbo seat, has discovered his fingers which are more often than not being sucked on by him, has learnt to grab stuff and has discovered his voice. We can have conversations- sometimes relatively long ones and other times a monologue on his part. He loves swimming, bathing and most things that allows him to come into contact with water- even washing his post-poop bottom or his hands brings a smile to his face. He no longer fusses too much, his re-flux is kept in check most times with minimal OTC medication and he guzzles a whopping 160-180ml of formula every three hours.

And, thankfully, he has begun sleeping for longer stretches at night: six hours at a go usually beginning at about 930pm, waking at about 4am for a big bottle which he takes in one sitting and ends with a big self induced burp before falling back to sleep till about 6am. On days when we get really lucky- like last night- he sleeps for another 6 hours after the middle of the night refueling till almost 930am.

He’s coming into his face and character too. No longer the skinny runt of a child, the boy is filling out quite nicely. He’s got kissable and pinchable cheeks (not that I do any more than kiss them) and his thighs are positively becoming some version of lamb chops. My cousin Pretty Hazy calls him Chunky Munky. He’s gratefully tall so I’m not fussed at his weight gain.

So, at about 14 weeks and a lil over three months (he turned three months on W’s birthday; he’s now become a handful to manage. Mainly because he will not really nap in the day and needs to be stimulated and entertained by mommy for most parts of the day. And preferably, he’d like to go out at least once each day; if not cabin fever might set in. (Really, its my fault since I take him out daily to do this that and the other…).

He’s started in some playgroups and he’s soon going to start attending baby music class. Gym time might come when he’s four months though their only-morning classes might prove to be prohibitive since Q is not a morning baby preferring to sleep in small bouts till about 1pm. Swim classes will follow when he’s six months then hopefully we’d be able to find him a mandarin playgroup to attend.

As I said, life’s gotten a little hectic for me. No less I have to juggle work, a new business (more on that another time) and I’ve recently been roped in to W’s company because they need an extra pair of eyes, ears and hands.

And as I sit typing at the tail end of our first Father’s Day (Q made W a finger painting art card at playgroup yesterday), the boys are fast asleep. The small one crashing out after a big day out with us and the big one just since, well, men are built with far less sleep debt capacity than women. And me? Well, I am staring at a few quiet (and hopefully productive) hours of paperwork.

Ah! The life of a full time/part time working mom.