The Beginning…

I am feeling beyond grateful for being given the opportunity to have 6 months paid with our family. I haven’t had this chunk of time without any kind of work since Caile was born, so as thankful as I am, I was also a little nervous. I love my job and I love the people I work with. On previous parental leaves I’ve always counted down to my break, excited to be with my kids and also excited to be away from my employment. I realize now that I am definitely where I should be and am thankful that I’ll miss my job in a healthy way during these next 6 months.

My nervousness was also partially connected to pressure I was putting on myself to be sure I had a good plan for these 6 months. I have so much I want to do with Ezra and the other kids, but also during Ezra’s downtime, I have so many ideas of things to do around the house or new routines to get myself into.

My Lead and I during our final chat suggested that I read the book 4000 Weeks. She knows that I’m all about productivity in work and in life. I had mentioned I wanted to read each day, so she thought this may be a good one to add to my list.

I’m halfway through the book and it’s been a good eye opener for me. It’s definitely designed for those of us who love check lists, enjoy being productive and thrive on getting things done. It really has you think about the big picture and what you want that to be. This book has already changed my approach to my time off. I’ll still have my to do lists and that’s okay, but I’ll also let myself procrastinate, remove things from the list and prioritize how I’d rather spend my time in some situations. I plan to write a post on this book once I’m done next week, but for now I wanted to mention that my leave will look different than I originally thought and I’m excited about that.

My first week seemed to fly by. I made some sensory bins for Ezra for when I’m prepping meals, etc. and he loves them! The weather was nicer this week, so we were able to get out for a few walks. We started a good routine of mixing activities and more reading into our day. Hanging with a 2 year old can certainly make the day go by quickly lol.

During nap times I’ve been reading my book, making some meals that I normally wouldn’t have time for during the week and started some chest / shoulder strengthening exercises. A few years ago I had a bad fall and did some damage that I’ve been working to reverse. My chiropractor has been amazing, but I’ve been looking forward to getting myself into a better routine and this was week 1.

I’ve tried to spend his nap times focusing on me for a change instead of only focusing on cleaning, chores, etc. and it’s been nice. Part of my me time will be more blogging. I want to look back and enjoy reading about this time, but also hold myself accountable as I go. More to come on this. 🙂

Family time has been great this week. Sandy and I had some time together which doesn’t happen enough. The kids had a storm day and that meant more games this week. Ezra and I had his eye apt where we had good news about the likelihood that his eye drift is gone.

We also finally were able to get together with our family and friends all at once now that limits have changed. We enjoyed a meal together and some games. We did an online paint night and tomorrow my nieces will come over for some gel nail fun,