Traveling solo

In March we were in a jam with childcare due to some heath scares with our provider's parents. My first thought was to call Auntie Amy and see if she'd be up for watching Mateo (along with Cash-man) if mom and dad would take Mateo for that week. Of course she said yes and called mom and dad before I had a chance :)

Mom and dad met us in Black River Falls and Mateo could've cared less that he wasn't going to see us for a week. Throughout the week we called and Skyped and all he kept saying was "I at Nani/Papi's house. I go play now. Bye" and off he'd go. Of course if I was him, I'd have the same reaction. Here's some of the fun he had:

 

They're 18 months apart....

 

Craft time with Auntie Amy

CHEERS!

 

Papa and the boys

 

Papa made a tent for Mateo for naptime since Cash needed the crib.

However, once Cash was awake he had to wake up his buddy too

 

Poor Cash - he had yogurt while Taye had ice cream

 

 

 

Making him earn his keep

 

Papa is a firefighter and had to show Taye how cool it is

 

Must be rough to be taken to the toy store...

 

And then get to test the toys up and down the aisles...

 

And then have Papa buy you Optimus Prime

 

Being goofy

 

Yep it was March and snowy

I survived

The first week back to work is over and done with and I am exhausted! I was surprised how quickly I was able to get the two of us ready and I learned a valuable lesson. Do not put on your work clothes until after the baby has been fed. Yep, one whole outfit wasted due to baby puke but I digress.

I took some advice from Shan and told Joe I was treating myself to coffee after I dropped Mateo off and had it in my head that if I was going to cry to leave Jill's before the "big ugly cry" came on per Shan's advice.

At Jill's all was going well until I doubled back to give Mateo (who was still sleeping in the car seat) a kiss on the head and that's when the tears started. I told Jill and John I needed to leave and they both assured me he would be fine. Why do people assume the crying is because you're worried about your kid? Trust me, it's not. I have no worries about leaving Mateo with Jill, I just don't want to leave him period. That's the problem. I want to raise my son and spend the week with him not the people at work. (To the people I work with who read this blog, no offense :) ).

Anyway, I bolted out to the car and then completely lost it. It was awful. I managed to pull it together by the time I got to work but then a work friend decided to stop by my desk to welcome me back which made me start crying again. However, Jill called at 9:30 to tell me Mateo was having a great day and was full of smiles which made me feel so much better. Oh, and my crying episode evidently made Jill cry as well..oops.

The best part of the day was coming home and Joe bringing Mateo to the back door and the babe doing a double take when he saw me and then giving me the HUGEST smile ever. Wednesday when I dropped him off he was awake and when I handed him to Jill, he gave her a pretty big smile which made me feel great.

So, this is my new normal. Not the normal that I want but hopefully after this experience, I won't cry as much when he goes to kindergarten, right?