{"id":3234,"date":"2010-08-04T12:25:27","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T16:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forgetful.ca\/?p=3234"},"modified":"2010-08-04T12:25:27","modified_gmt":"2010-08-04T16:25:27","slug":"3234","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/?p=3234","title":{"rendered":"A Month at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was my first day back at work after a MONTH of parental leave. \u00a0My last such break from work was 4 months traveling in 2000, and before that it was 1994 when I was still in high school (assuming you count university as work. \u00a0I do). \u00a0It was a financial hit, but so worth it.<\/p>\n

Just after Jaia was born, I started working from home and did so for the next 2 years. \u00a0I saw her every day, played with her, sang her songs, and watched her grow. \u00a0I won’t get that same opportunity with Wes. \u00a0Shannen texted me today to tell me that Wes laughed for the first time. \u00a0I wasn’t there. \u00a0I would have been for Jaia.<\/p>\n

So this month off was special. \u00a0Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n

1) Time with the little guy. \u00a0I’m far from impartial but I think he’s pretty cute. \u00a0He loves being outside. \u00a0He hates being on his belly, and getting his nails cut. \u00a0He doesn’t cry anymore when I give him a bath. \u00a0He’s more generous with his smiles in the morning than the evening, and is fascinated by his big sister.<\/p>\n

2) Swimming with Jaia<\/a>. \u00a0I tried to get away to the pool as much as possible with Jaia, and of course we had the week at the cottage. \u00a0She has come a long way this month, and it’s been great to see. \u00a0Hopefully it’s the start of a lifelong love of the water.<\/p>\n

3) Giving Shannen a break. \u00a0We had a lot of help from Wes’ grandparents through May and June, but I was the help in July. \u00a0I tried to make sure she got some sleep, had some nights off, and got out of the house a few times to just get away. \u00a0She does a great job with them and I don’t tell her that often enough.<\/p>\n

4) The cottage. \u00a0Our cottage rental wasn’t perfect, but the gradually sloping sandy beach made up for any flaws it had. \u00a0Shannen will post soon with more detail, but it really was a great week. \u00a0Jaia became a master fisherwoman, casting her pink barbie fishing rod like a pro. \u00a0Wes had some naps in the tent on the beach that I was extremely jealous of. \u00a0Beer was consumed in a lawn chair submerged in the water. \u00a0IN THE WATER. \u00a0Heaven.<\/p>\n

5) The zoo! \u00a0We went to the Toronto Zoo while we were there, and though it was stinking hot, it is still a pretty special place to take a 3 year old. \u00a0We’ll likely be back next summer, and the summer after that. \u00a0I love the baboons.<\/p>\n

I wonder if my work would consider income averaging like the government or teachers, so I could have July and August off every year? \u00a0I think I’ll go ask now …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was my first day back at work after a MONTH of parental leave. \u00a0My last such break from work was 4 months traveling in 2000, and before that it was 1994 when I was still in high school (assuming you count university as work. \u00a0I do). \u00a0It was a financial hit, but so worth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[14,26,51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forgetful.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}