Preparations

I can't believe I have to go back to school on Monday. Ug.

Part of me is dreading it and part of me is excited. The dread comes from the Mama part of me--the part who doesn't want to leave Eddie three times a week...and the part who is a little nervous about watching two other babies in the afternoons when I'm home with Eddie.

To recover part of the cost of having a private nanny for Eddie I've decided to watch two other students' babies. One is named Heidi and she's exactly Eddie's age and one is Anthony who is about 5 months older than Eddie. I've certainly watched many more babies at once before (as a childcare provider at a church nursery and at an in-home daycare) but never when one of them is mine. He's so used to getting my undivided attention and I know it'll break both our hearts when he has to share me. I'm nervous that I won't be able to deal with letting him cry when one of the others needs a diaper change, to be fed, or played with. Ug. I do realize that it will be good for Eddie to be around other kids his age and for him to develop some independence from me. But, God, is it going to suck.

It is super expensive to have a private nanny in your home, at least compared to using a childcare center or in-home childcare at someone else's house. But we decided that since I live without Dave during the week and will be transitioning back into work/school, spending the money on someone who can also help with household chores is the best choice. Perhaps next quarter (or when Dave eventually works here and lives at home again) we'll put Eddie into childcare. Given the number of folks around here who are having babies I'm hopeful that we can come up with a childcare exchange system or nanny-sharing so we don't have to spend a lot of money in the future.

Dave and I hired a nanny named Laura to watch Eddie during the two days a week when I'm at school. She's a senior at UC Davis and has oodles of experience watching many kids at once, including babies. We really like her so far.

Knowing that I should get Eddie used to Laura gradually instead of dumping him on her for a full 10 hour day, we asked her if she could start this week for a few hours a day. Luckily she said yes. Yesterday she came over and hung out with him for about two hours while Edward, Dave, and I took the dogs on a walk downtown to get coffee. She said he did great--getting fussy only when we predicted (wet diaper). We'd left a small bottle of defrosted milk but he didn't get hungry while we were gone since he'd tanked up on the boob right before we left.

Today she was be here for three hours and will be here for four tomorrow. Dave and I went to Lowe's to buy all the stuff needed to finish the bathroom at the Coast House up in Gualala. We bought the vanity, sink, faucet, mirror, and light fixtures. We also had time to get a treat at Starbucks and take the dogs to the dog park for the frisbee play. While Laura is here tomorrow we're going to gon on a movie date. I haven't seen a movie since a few days before Eddie was born and I'm sooooooooooooo excited. We're going to see Invictus--I have more interest in it than Dave since I lived in South Africa but I'm sure he'll like it. My mom and brother already watched it and they gave it two thumbs up.

My maternity leave was super expensive for us since I was completely without income for 5 months. So we've been trying to cut down on expenses where we can. Whereas I used to try to buy local dairy and produce at the food co-op and farmers market, these days I'm getting the cheapest food possible. And that means coupons, sales, and cheap stores like WinCo. Bleh. At least the challenge of finding the best deal without driving around to a million stores and wasting gas and matching up coupons is fun.

Over the last few days I've been running around to various stores to use some high-value coupons and to stock up on (cheap) food. Since I have no idea how things will go once I'm back in school--easy and enjoyable or crazy and draining--I'm getting as prepared as I can. We brought our extra bouncy seat down from Gualala and got Eddie a "jumperoo" seat at the thrift store to play in. Hopefully I won't have to go to the store for food during the week and will have enough seats to stick the babies in so they'll be happy. Heidi and Anthony are very easy babies who like to just "hang out"...but Eddie...well, he loves to be held and walked around all the time. I might hate myself for saying this once Eddie's getting into everything but I can't wait until he can crawl. He loves to move, move, move and right now that means hauling all his 16 pounds around in our arms or in the front carrier--either way we end up with an aching back. When he can get around by himself I think we'll all be happier.