I awoke this morning with the startling realisation that I would be returning to work in two weeks time and thus, ending my maternity leave of 11 months. Overwhelmed with an urge to communicate this fact, I took to my facebook status, alerting my friends of the impending deadline. Several comments returned included the sage advice to 'make the most of it' and accordingly, I thought I'd best use this post to devise a checklist of tasks for the coming two weeks that would aptly allow me to conclude that I had indeed 'made the most of it', come Monday morning, September 5.
- Catch up on sleep during the day. This has never been something I have frequently enjoyed as Ethan's daytime napping habits have been sketchy at best. There is always the possibility however, that if Ethan has a restless evening the night before, I can always hold out hope for an afternoon kip on the couch. At the very least, I won't have to think or make adult conversation.
- Stroll down to the shops for a meaningless wander and buy another outfit for Ethan. Those who know me well would realise that I am a changed woman - I used to hate shopping. I still don't enjoy shopping for myself but consider that I have developed a flare for sourcing boys clothing, sizes 00 -1.
- Attend a free parenting seminar. The Royal Hospital for Women and the Early Childhood Centre has an age limit of 6 months and under however, the local council might have something going.
- Go for a walk to the park for a swing, whenever the mood strikes us and the weather is appealing.
- Watch every possible children's program on ABC4kids at least once over the next fortnight.
- Do the washing on a weekday and hang in the sun.
- Go for a jog with the stroller around centennial park. No, only kidding! This is what I was supposed to have done whilst on mat leave but it never really eventuated. I hold Ethan to account here - he cries whenever we go around the park for more than 15 mins at a time (and no, I can't complete a full loop of the park in under 15 mins).I did join a mums fitness group for all of one morning back in March but it required me leaving Ethan in his pram for an hour whilst I ran up and down stairs and did endless crunches. Ethan cried and so did I.
- Go to Bondi Junction Westfields and do some celebrity spotting on a Friday afternoon. So far, we have only spotted Stevie Jacobs but that makes our total 100% successful!
- Do coffee with other mum friends.
- Have a day devoted entirely to the beauty of pyjama or tracksuit pant wearing.
- Prepare a roast for dinner.
- Spend the morning or afternoon playing down on the sand at Coogee Beach.
- Enjoy taking the opportunity to finalise the Spring Clean that Cam and I initiated last weekend. De-cluttering is good for the soul!
- Prepare a thorough budget with the commitment to diligently update and review weekly upon return to work, to appropriately track finances. Include a tricky excel formula or two, just to brush up on rusty skills.
- Take work clothes out of boxes that I hastily shoved them into last April (when things stopped fitting), wash, iron and hang in cupboard according to definition of trouser, skirt, shirt and jacket.
A pretty comprehensive list, right? Surely if I can complete each of the above activities, I could rest assured that I was making the most of my time before commencing a certain chaos of a daily routine?
Alternatively, I could disregard the above and focus on this one item:
- Stare at Ethan for copious amounts during the day and shower him with kisses, cuddles and tickles, before he begins his own adventure away from mummy and daddy, at childcare.
And whilst doing that, take the opportunity to thank God for the blessing of our beautiful little boy and wonder, where on earth has the time gone?
