One Year Ago

One year ago my life changed more drastically than ever. Laura had just finished maternity leave, and the pandemic had just hit. Our plan had been to send our littlest to daycare three days a week while I worked as a substitute teacher those three days and be home with the littlest one day and both the other day.

I know I'm not the only one who had major life changes in the last year. Many have made major life adjustments. Still, that didn't make the adjustment any different. With all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, I began to take care of both our children full-time.

It's amazing how different caring for my children has looked from then until now. At first, the older one and I did a lot of playing sub (taking our imaginary submarine to various locales) in the younger one's room while she slept or relaxed. Other activities were also possible as she was immobile.

Then came the rolling, crawling, and now walking, and things look much different now. 

The older one was also doing distance learning preschool, which mostly took place during the younger one's morning nap. In a piece of good timing, the older one returned to preschool three days a week when the younger one switched to taking only one nap a day in the afternoon.

So now I've been home with the littlest one three days a week and home with both of them two days a week. The littlest one keeps changing so fast — walking, talking more, and getting into more have all made taking care of her a little more exciting.

With the weather now being decent we've played outside a lot, taking a couple walks to the park and walking and biking around the cul-de-sac. I've also used the jogging stroller and double jogging stroller a fair amount, and this week we drove to a trail where the older one rode his bike and I ran with the younger one in the jogging stroller.

I never imagined my life like this. Almost five years ago I was going to stay home in the summer with our first, but then I ended up having a moderate manic episode which kept me from being able to take care of him. Now I've been out of the workforce for over a year and home with the kiddos, and I couldn't feel more fulfilled in life.