March 29: "Working from Home"

I am really lucky.  I try hard not to forget that.  Of course, a statement like "I am really lucky" is pretty general, and could apply to many different aspects of life.  Today, however, I'm using it in reference to work and motherhood.

This morning I woke up late.  6:20am to be exact. Do you know what 6:20am looks like?  It's so late in the morning that the SUN is almost out!  Glorious 6:20am, I would kiss you if I could.  So I woke up, careful to be quiet, rolling out of bed and stepping gingerly towards the bathroom.   I got ready for work, let the dogs outside and caffeinated myself without even a rustle or peep from my sleeping babes.  Hmm.  Suspicious.

I am never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I continued--watched CNN, caf-ed up again, and let the dogs back inside.  Still, no babes.  Eventually, FINALLY, the kitten meowed.  I jumped up (not kidding about that) and "got my mom on".  Diap, wipe and clothing change, a sufficient amount of noise made by both Alice and I...and still no Henry?!  Of course, the crazy person in me stalked into Hen's room and hovered over him to make sure he was still breathing.  Breathing--check!  Waking?--no!  Fast-forward to 8am: Hen awakes, drowsy sweet smile, bags under his eyes and a cough like an octogenarian who has smoked a pack a day for the past 60 years.  Ugh.  Damn you germs!

And the morning routine of the sick child begins:
1. Email work with apologetic "I won't be there today..." message hoping that there is minimal eye-rolling.  Respond graciously to kind coworkers who respond immediately, wishing your child well.
2. Call Pediatrician (busy signal), continue to manically dial pediatrician like some crazed ex-girlfriend until there is finally a ring, then sit on hold for ungodly amount of time while wrestling older child away from...well...everything.
3. Call daycare and leave voice mail, sound exhausted and almost peeved, and then immediately sorry for sounding peeved about having to care for your own sick kids (hope that daycare providers don't mark you as worst mom in the world).
4. Spend a moment questioning if your kid is ACTUALLY sick, or just faking, and then feel massive amounts of mom-guilt when he doubles over in fits of coughing.

Oh, it's fun alright!  In all of this, the most curious bit to me is the "working from home" email.  I work with some hardcore, dedicated workaholics.  I do my best to keep up, and since I genuinely enjoy what I do, it's not difficult to become consumed by work.  However, I always wonder what "work from home" looks like for other people.  I was thinking about this today as I responded to work emails, so I opened photobooth and took a series of snapshots of my own "work from home" moment.

This is my favorite.  It looks like I'm reading the top portion of the email while Alice is covering the bottom.  We'll meet in the middle and update each other.

To my original point--I'm darn lucky to have coworkers who understand when I have to work from home with sick kids.  Thank you admissions!