Three kids are settled in under cozy blankets, watching "Charlotte's Web". We've moved the computer desk into the living/play room, so I glance over now and then at their rosy little faces and messy heads. Jude should be in school. But the joys of Daylight Savings Time means that everyone was up extra early yesterday and today, and we had an incredibly busy weekend. So, because I'm home today, I've let him stay home for the first time since September.
The sky has that typical overcast November layer, with a sliver of watery blue close to the horizon. It's minus 7 degrees Celsius on the old thermometer that hangs on my clothesline pole, and I can see frost on my windshield.
The kettle boiled, but will need reboiling before I make a cup of chai tea.
After two months of working through the third trimester of pregnancy, a fog seems to be slowly rising from my mind. With the incredible demands of managing a classroom, teaching small children, communicating with parents, and all the other details that make up a teacher's day out of the picture now, I find that a whole corner is empty and glistening in my mind. Of course, the necessary bits of clutter are trickling in.
Necessary things: like arranging visits with long-neglected friends; planning handmades for Christmas; packing up my homebirth kit; painting our bedroom and hanging a door for privacy; rationing out my to-do list to preserve my pelvis and sciatic nerve.
My husband gave me a hug around the shoulders this past weekend, and thought my breathing sound funny. I have a baby hippopotamus pushing up against my heart and lungs. But today, without the daily stress of getting myself and two kids out the door and planning the work day while thinking ahead to dinner, my breathing is calm and even.
The comments on my latest post reminds me of how deeply grateful I am that Canada has figured out the importance of mothers being home with their babes. A whole year ahead to play house. Yes, there will be financial worries, emotional meltdowns, refereeing of sibling battles, and lots of work. But it's all I have to focus on. Just being here. Just being mommy.
Wonderful for you and all the children in Canada. Would that the other gov'ts in the world would also understand that and be proactive in their policies around families.
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Bless you darling xx
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