Parental Leave Week 5 Wrap Up

It is now Monday, which means another week of leave has come and gone. The week in many respects pasted by quietly. Which to some might signal that it was an uneventful week. And I suppose, aside form my celebrating my Mothers birthday that was true. However on the other hand I realized something so subtle it almost passed by unnoticed.

This week I began to feel normal.
Of course 'normal' may be misleading. Things are still crazy around here. Chores still pill up. I am still helping with day care. My game systems still sit idol. I am still on leave. From the outside things would look anything but 'normal'. But I am feeling more normal. My head is clearer. My mood more stable. My sleep patterns are better.

For the past 4 weeks I was quite literally propped up by caffeine and sugar. I drank far more coffee and ate far more sweets than I normally would. But I needed the cheap energy hit. I needed to keep going. But as of late it has become more normal to have a morning coffee, not three. Likewise the donut trail from Tim Hortons to our house has ended. 

Now I am not naive. I am well aware that I have a newborn. Her sleep patterns may suddenly take a turn for the worst. 

I know that someone (or all of us) may get sick. On Thursday one of the kids from the day care became very ill. He is still at home vomiting. Near as I can tell the rest of the kids, along with Meghan and I have managed to stayed healthy. But we easily could have picked up the same bug. 

I also know that I started to slowly phasing myself back to work. Last Tuesday I started running the youth group again. This Sunday I am preaching. In May I will start teaching the youth bible study class again.

Needless to say a lot can go wrong here. I could take on more than I can handle, some could get sick, Ariella could decide to stay awake for a few nighs in a row, and on and on the list could go. However right now, today, I am happy to report that I feel normal. Maybe just maybe if I am lucky, this feeling will last the week.

My Lovely Family,
Photo Taken By O La La! Photography