During the weekday, my clothes and food are always picked out the night before, because I can’t think straight at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning (can you?). I think it is absolutely amazing how quickly I can transform from sleeping Mark to work Mark and at the same time, remember to put on a fresh pair of boxers; brush my teeth; brush my hair; wash my face; take my medications (that make me crazy and have lots of side effects); give Franklin cat water from the sink (because he is spoiled); put on the rest of my clothes (I don’t think my co-workers would appreciate it if I showed up to work naked); and if needed do a laundry swap (either put clothes in dryer or remove from dryer and place in a basket).
If the baby is awake (or, should I say crying and standing in the crib) when I am ready to get up for good, I have to find Niko by touch in the crib because it is dark (and make sure I don’t trip on any obstructions like the crib) and give him to Nina for breast milk and pray to the baby gods that after he eats, he goes back to sleep next to Nina for an hour or so. Most of the time, he does go back to sleep. While they are sleeping together, I am driving to work!!! NO FAIR!!!
Now that we have an air mattress in Niko’s room, I may find solace on it if he wakes up a few hours before 5:30 or 6:00. Maybe that will help him sleep past those times without getting fed!!! We also may try having Nina sleep on it for a few nights and hopefully, that will help him sleep all night long. I did sleep on it once when we woke up at 4:30 and I woke up at 5:55. It didn’t really help Niko sleep any longer because he still woke up around 7:00.
When I eventually make it downstairs (without falling since it is dark and most of the time, Franklin follows me), I do my kitchen duties!!! So, by that, I empty the dishwasher, take care of the dirty dishes (I don’t throw them in the trash), and sanitize baby bottles. It gives me great pleasure to know that when Nina and Niko come downstairs, Nina doesn’t have to worry about anything and she can start from a clean slate. I will tell you that our kitchen is small and we don’t have a lot of countertop space so anytime, I can create space and put stuff away, I do just that.
For the past few days, Niko has been getting up earlier than normal and I get to see them both in the morning (which always make my day better). But, the downside is, by the time O get home from work, he is almost ready for bed.
Every evening, I always tell Nina (no matter how messy the kitchen is) that I will clean everything up!!! Sometimes, I even take out pots or pans that she needs so she doesn’t have to bend (because her back is still hurting). On December 29th, I took out a very small frying pan (1 egg) for Niko’s breakfast. Yes, on that particular day, we started giving him 3 meals a day in addition to breast milk!!!
After all that is completed, I get my food from the night before and pack it in a lunch bag. We have refrigerators at work, but I keep my stuff at my desk because there have been several instances where somebody eats someone else’s food (dude, I would be pissed if somebody ate my food especially when it is leftover Chinese food). We do have a cafeteria at work and I utilize it when I don’t bring food from home or when I don’t feel like eating what I packed (which doesn’t happen often). Sometimes, my department orders take-out or they have pot-lucks and very rarely, do I participate in either of those.
Then, I can finally gather my eye-glasses, work ID, keys, and wallet and proceed to the front door (again, without falling because it is dark and Franklin is somewhere). Once I am safely in my car, I scream FREEDOM!!!! Now, repeat this for the next business day!!! Fun times!!!
