We had a lovely weekend, partying with the DeBusks and getting the house ship-shape. The latter was de rigeur due to the fact that Amelia’s school is out this week – so we hired a babysitter to care for her during the week. It’s terrifying to realize that a relative stranger is not only going to care for your daughter for a week, but also be alone in your house, which hasn’t been properly cleaned for almost 8 months!

Of course, we put things off to the last minute and so were up until 11 pm or so, quite late for new parents. But then, of course Amelia let us sleep in – we were up only 15 minutes before Jennifer arrived! Poor thing, what could she have thought of us, Tom barely awake, though at least dressed – I was rushing around the house in my robe with a towel on my head!

Amelia actually took 2 naps with Jennifer, 2 more than we thought she would take, though she was pretty darned fussy and tired when I got home. She ate badly too, and needed to be held A LOT, which harkens back the the bad old days of C-O-L-I-C. Sleepy and whiny hours before bedtime, but hard to get to sleep – definitely feeling off her game!

It’s impressive to me how much the smallest of children thrive on routine. I must say, I miss our usual patterns as well – seeing Amelia at lunchtime as I do when she’s at school really lets me de-stress and reconnect with what’s truly important. And even when I know precisely why Amelia isn’t falling asleep easily, or sleeping well, I still find myself questioning my mothering abilities – and getting miserably tense.

Jennifer is perfectly capable, don’t get me wrong – but I’ll be really pleased when school is back in session and we can all get back into our well-worn grooves.