No, not about labour, or even about having a baby to take care of. I am surprisingly unconcerned about these things actually.
I am freaking our about the girl, who will turn 6 in March.
She has been in full time daycare since she was 14 months, and is now in kindergarten Mondays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays, and daycare the other days. So, she has had her days filled with staff-led activities and peers for the past 4 years! She loves both school and daycare.
She is not easy to occupy on days off and weekends (except with TV and movies, but we don’t like to resort to that) and is used to almost always having someone, the man or I, doing stuff directly with her. We have been encouraging her to play, draw and read on her own more, and she is getting better, somewhat. Not much though! The only way she is really happy on her own for more than about 10 minutes is watching TV! Ugh.
I had decided long ago to pull her out of day-care after I have the baby…we really cannot afford the $600 a month when I am not working (I’ll be off one year), and it has always just seemed to me like if I am going to be a SAHM for any length of time, it should be with all my kids. Anyways, even if I wanted to keep her in daycare, we could not afford it, so it is not an option.
I am looking forward to this extra time with the girl, who is at such a great age now, in so many ways. But I am also now starting to get worried about how I am going to keep her occupied and happy. I have some friends who will be off work when I am, but with much younger kids. I know the girl and I can do some classes and activities…but activities that are appropriate for a 6 year old and I can also deal with an infant at…well…I cannot fill my days with such activities (or afford to).
I am not a homebody at the best of times and get twitchy and irratable when I am at home for long (I was sickish today, and still went to the fruit store just to get out for a few minutes), and I know if we are home a lot, and the girl is bored and whiney a lot, I will go MAD.
Any idea for stuff we can do together on the 2-3 days a week she’ll be home with me?
If I was smart, I woulda waited a few more months, next September she’ll start full days in school!
In other news, I am starting to feel much better. I guess I just needed a day to rest. I have not taken a sick day from work in a few months, and my weekends are always full of errands…so I guess it is no surprise that my body needed a day to spend relaxing.
Jennifer said,
November 10, 2008 @ 12:34 am
Morgan was much the same until the 2nd came along. Then she adapted. She is a little artiste now, constantly working on one project or another. I have a ton of activity totes, filled with various things to do. She will quite happily sit at the table and create books, or drawings or even outfits.
SoMo said,
November 10, 2008 @ 2:11 am
I understand that you don’t want to resort to TV, but in reality that is what we did most when DS was born. I was constantly on the sofa recovering from my Csection and trying to get the little bugger to nurse. Of course, I watch TV alot after the births of both my kids because I was too wiped to do anything else.
You might be surprised. Your dd is older than my dd when her brother was born, but I say make her feel like she is a big helper. I use to lay DS on the floor and ask DD to play with him for a few minutes, like show him a rattle or swat at his baby gym. It kept her occupied, but sometimes she just didn’t want me to ask her to help and she went to the other room to play or found something to occupy herself.
I think there will be a big adjustment for everyone, but you will see it all falls into place, evenutally.
The Blogger said,
November 11, 2008 @ 2:29 am
Thanx for the ideas. I think I need to start building a stash of new activites (and yes, DVDs) to pull out when I need them.
I also need to find oot which of her kindergarten friends are at home with SAHP or nannies on thier days out of school, so maybe we can do some playdates!
She will remain in day-care the first 4 weeks or so, since her DC requires 4 weeks notice and we plan to give it AFTER I have the baby just in case the baby comes a few weeks late or there is some sort of reason it’ll be to hard to have both of them at home right away (for example if I need a C-section. I have hear you should not drive for 6 weeks…not way I will be home alone with both of them and unable to drive for 6 weeks in the middle of winter LOL!!!). Also, I really want to get breast-feeding off to a good start, and remeber from DD I will need a few weeks to be able to focus on that and just veg on on the couch with minimal distractions and other expecations to make that happen.
I know it’ll work out eventually, I sam justy tryiong to be proactive and have some activities in mind for things we can all do together, and things to occupy the girl when I need her to be occupied. Things that aren’t Hannah Montana (though I am not opposed ot her watching some TV when I really need some peace, I just don’t want it to be the only option!)