Back to Work & Childcare

All ready to go on his first day.

So I started back at work as a Kindergarten teacher on Monday, and Rowan had his first day of childcare. We both survived, I thrived. So far so good, the last two working days have been overwhelmingly positive and though I know things will get a bit more intense in the coming months, for the time being I’m enjoying the ride.

And then there was childcare... I dropped Rowan off at 7.30am on Monday morning after his milk feed to have breakfast at the centre. He was a little wary but separated okay (as did I – no tears!) and the room leader was really nice about it all. I called his room late morning and one of the carers mentioned that he was asleep. Yes, asleep! The boy who hasn’t taken a morning nap since he was 11 months old. Sure, it turned out to only be an hour’s nap but it totally counts. And there was no more napping for the rest of the day so he definitely slept well that night, but I just couldn’t believe it. I was to finish at 3.15pm that afternoon (the positive thing about starting on the clock by 8am!), to pick up Rowan at around 4pm, and got a phone call from the childcare centre just before 3 asking me to come and get him as he had been distraught for the past hour... poor little man. :(

After picking Rowan up.

When I got to his room, I went in and they put him in my arms, but he was still sobbing quietly. It wasn’t until a few minutes later – after doing a big poo – that it seemed as though he suddenly realised I was there and as he lay on the changetable and I cleaned him up he animatedly came back to life and started chattering about all sorts of things (namely doors, nappies and butterflies). Then he was fine for the rest of the day. Apparently he got to go outside during his day and loved the sandpit (Rowan hasn’t had too much exposure to sand yet), as well as the book area and spent half an hour looking at every single book with one of the carers... sounds like my days with him, really. 


Books are a huge interest area to Rowan, especially if they have a cat in them. Let's hope this (fascination with books) continues as he gets older. So that was our first week... here's to the ones to follow, hopefully they are just as positive.

Life in an Instagram

I wrote a long blog post today but accidentally deleted it (oops!), so you get the short and sweet version: I'll be returning to work as a teacher on July 16th (start of Term 3 here in Australia), and Rowan will be starting childcare one day per week. I feel more than a little guilt about this, as for some reason I never thought that my own child(ren) would be accessing childcare. Hopefully this part sits better with me as time passes. I don't know if I'm ready to hand over an entire day with Rowan to someone else yet?

I guess that this is a small taste of what some parents must feel leaving their eldest child with me at the beginning of the Kindergarten year? Wow, talk about humbling... :/

I've been doing weekly Instagram posts on my personal blog for a while now and thought I'd share the last three weeks worth of adventures here too:

May 14-20

May 21-27

May 28 - June 3



23 Weeks

I've had a cold this week, and the amount of coughing I've done with the mucous being made has been turning my stomach a bit. Still, my perfect non-puking record this pregnancy is intact (proud of that one! :P). Unfortunately I've passed the same cold onto my husband and he's feeling poorly this morning - we leave to go on holiday to his parents place in Tasmania for Christmas today.

Work is now finished for the year... I'm officially on school holidays! :D

Excited? You bet. Unable to relax, on the back of one of the busiest months I've experience in a while? Definitely. It usually takes me a week or two to unwind at the end of the year, I'm guessing that this year will not be much different. ;)

Our little one was bestowed with more gifts this week (I'm honestly overwhelmed by the generousity of others), in particular:

From an online friend who has a three year-old son. She spoilt us. :)



Okay... so many all of this isn't for the baby, but at least the teddy is! (being a teacher at this time of the year often results in excess, but a nice excess)



One of the families I have taught this year wrote me a beautiful note (you will have to click on the image to see it full-size to read it more clearly)

And lastly, it wouldn't be the end of the year with the annual "jump" picture - even being pregnant it wasn't going to stop me! Behold the disappearing bump:

Which really looks more like this....



(23 weeks & 3 days)

So my classroom is now empty, a new teacher has been employed to take over from me in the beginning of February, and I'm a little petrified. Teaching is what I know and love, and the idea of it being out of my life for at least a year (or more) makes me feel a little unstructured - or out of control, even. Come April, I know that this time will be a distant dream, but for now it's more than a little surreal.

That's Where my Dust Went

I think that I’ve figured out what has happened to my baby dust... it’s gone to many of the families in my Kindergarten group!

In the last month, not one...or two...but THREE of the parents have announced that they’re expecting (all in the first trimester), leaving me dolling out many congratulations – all genuine, I might add. However, if any more families in my group of 25 make an announcement, then I’ll probably lie on the floor while kicking and screaming... which would make a nice spectacle for the four year-olds. ;)

Career and Nurturing

Here I am, on the first day of a new cycle today.

That makes nine months of actively trying for our first child (and almost unimaginably, we would be on the verge of having a newborn in our lives if we’d conceived in our first couple of months).

As anyone that’s reading this who has been through the whole TTC journey would know, it has its ups and downs. My frustrations have been extreme at times, but I have faith that one day soon my husband and I will be blessed with a child of our own. I know that there’s so much I’ve been doing ‘right’ (ie, cutting out caffeine, getting healthier and in a more positive headspace) in the past year, I just hope know that it’s all enough.

Time for me to reveal a little more about the person that I am... I work with children on a daily basis as a Kindergarten teacher (here in Australia, our Kindergarten year is more like what some of you would know as preschool – very much play-based). I adore my job, and for a year the children that I nurture and teach become my children. My days are filled with laughter, joy and sunshine...I honestly can’t think of a better way to spend them. When the families that I work with ask about my own family, I’m good at smiling and saying that it’ll happen when it happens (but at the same time it hurts, too...).

For the time being, I keep honing my Hokey Pokey skills. ;)