The second shift

Sometimes people ask me why I am a working mom.
The answer to that is I have to be.

Sometimes people ask me what it's like to be a working mom.
The answer to that is similar to working two jobs.

After I leave my "real" job, I start my second shift.

Upon arriving at home, Meg is usually eating dinner in her high chair. I will then take over, see her eat the rest of her meal and then carefully take her out of the chair, holding her like a granade as to not get my work clothes dirty (also know as my "good clothes")
(Good Clothes -adj. & n. something owned by a mommy that does not have poopy stains, spit up, cookie, spinach, chicken grease, ice cream, dirt, boogers or any other kind of remnant permanently stained on it)

I will bring her into the bathroom, strip her down and clean her up. This also explains why you may find macaroni and cheese on my bathroom floor. After that, I allow her to run naked through the house and try to assist with dinner, usually by making a salad or some kind of vegetable because the husband, left to his own devices will only cook meat, meat and meat. Sometimes he throws in french fries or a packaged noodle of some sort.

Salad dicing and assembly can be challenging when a toddler is hanging onto your legs crying "mamma" but sometimes I am lucky and she's off playing with baby dolls.

After dinner is made, the table is set by putting all utensils and plates into the very center of the table so that her little hands can't reach any of it.

As soon as we sit down to eat, she will usually want to sit on my lap and also eat whatever I am eating. I usually get a fork full of food in and then go about fishing out something off my plate for her. After dinner, I try to clean up in between building towers with leggos, reading books, running around chasing her, changing her diaper, and trying to get pajamas on. Sometimes the good bribe of a bottle can get her to sit in one spot but she's usually got her second wind around then.

After I finish reading her every book she has, I get her off to bed, which knock on wood, has been going smooth and not required several trips into her room to calm her down.
Then, my real work begins......dinner clean up and prep for tomorrow!

At this point, we ususally tag team clean up, load the dishwasher, wipe down the table, stove etc. Then it's time to clean up all of her toys and try to sweep up remains of dinner off the floor.
Then, I will rumage through the refrigerator and cabinets in search of something nutritional for her to make for lunch the next day. After all that is done, I "close" down the kitchen, wiping down the counters and throwing away the junk mail.

I usually sit down, without anyone on my lap, for the first time around nine pm. I am usually so tired at this point I do not even catapult off the couch when my lovely husband passes his nightly gas. Instead I just threaten that if it smells I will throw the nearest item I can reach at him.

Blissful!