Today marks the last official day of my paternity leave, and while I've still got the weekend to go, the return to work on Monday morning looms ominously. I'll leave my thoughts and feelings about paternity leave to one of my posts next week, as I'll be able to talk about how it's been being back at work.
The reason that I start today's post with that thought is that Kelsey and I have been trying out as many different trips and visits as possible over the last week or so. This has included packing Jake up to go to see our friends, testing the length of the walk to Horsforth high street (answer, about 35 minutes there and 30 minutes back) and a trip into town today. Part of these is because part of our aim for Kelsey's maternity leave is for her and Jake to leave the house at least once a day and these trips will be some of the journeys she'll make. Part of these is to see what of our pre-baby life is still possible and what changes need to be made.
In short, everything remains the same but with some subtle differences. We now have to start getting ready in shifts, so actually getting out of the house takes longer. You have to try and second guess Jake's bowels and hunger and pack the right number of nappies, spare outfits and bottles without going over the top. Our friends have gotten used to the fact that Jake is a surprisingly lengthy topic of conversation and that he may scream and void his bowels in their house at any given time. When we went out for lunch today (Bar Burrito on the Headrow in Leeds, scores very highly on my child friendly restaurant list) we had to order a bowl of boiling water to heat his bottle with.
However, it's still possible to maintain a semblance of normal life as people are eager to meet Jake and we are determined to make him as part of our life as he is making us part of his, if that makes sense. This will hopefully continue when I go back to work, when everything promises to be the same but different in a whole load of different ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment