This past week was a week that I hadn’t been looking forward to for quite some time – my return to work from maternity leave. I’m happy to report that I survived my first week back. I only had four days with students, as last Monday was a teacher workday. While it wasn’t fun to spend my first morning back at work in professional development meetings, it was nice to have the afternoon to work in my classroom and prepare to see my students starting Tuesday morning.
My biggest challenge this past week was a challenge that I fully expected: trying to balance the demands at work as a teacher with my demands at home as a mom and a wife while also still finding time to work out. I’m sure it’ll take a couple of weeks to find a new norm and a routine that works well for us, especially since we currently have my mom here helping us, which also means that little man hasn’t started daycare yet. The addition of daycare to our schedule will add yet another layer of complexity to our routine.
One of the highlights from this past week was that my birthday was on Wednesday. I received two pretty awesome presents that day. Little man slept through the night for the first time Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and when my alarm went off Wednesday morning I was in a daze and quite confused as to how I’d slept for as long as I had. That was the only day that little man has slept through the night, but it was an absolutely wonderful present to receive from him. My other present on Wednesday was my mom’s arrival, and she, Preston, little man, and I enjoyed a birthday dinner out at a local Mexican restaurant. I can’t remember the last time that I got to spend my birthday with my mom. I’m guessing the last time was back when I was in high school.
I treated myself to a delicious birthday treat on Wednesday in the form of sangria
After having to skip my long run last weekend due to a bad headache, it was nice to finally get my six mile run in on Saturday. The weather Saturday morning was less than desirable – cold, windy, and rainy – so I opted to wait until Saturday evening to head out for my run. And I’m so glad that I waited, because other than the wind, Saturday evening was absolutely picture perfect for running.
I’m sure this coming week will be just as challenging, if not more challenging, when it comes to making time for everything on my plate. I’m definitely up for the challenge, and hope to have as successful of a week as this past week was.
Mon 3/28 – 1.42 mile walk
Tues 3/29 – 3.15 mile run, 0.36 mile cool down walk
Wed 3/30 – Rest day
Thurs 3/31 – 3.10 mile run on the treadmill, 0.47 mile cool down walk
Fri 4/1 – 15 minutes on the elliptical, 40 minutes of weight training (upper body, lower body, abs)
Sat 4/2 – 6.00 mile run, 0.73 mile cool down walk
Sun 4/3 – Rest day
Total Weekly Mileage – 16.39 miles (1.99 miles more than week 8)
Total ZOOMA Mileage – 143.60 miles
QOTD: What is your biggest challenge when it comes to fitting everything into your weekly schedule?
I’m linking up with Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap link up. Be sure to check out their posts as well.
I couldn’t even begin to tell you my biggest challenge but to turn a negative into a positive I’m going to go with the fact there are just so many things I want to do you and experience and achieve and accomplish in a week so I’m forced to prioritize 🙂
Prioritizing is definitely key.
That must have been nice to get a full night’s sleep! Hopefully this is the start of a new routine for little man!
Summer will be here soon so hopefully you’ll find that things will get easier for a while!
He’s been so inconsistent with his sleeping but hopefully things will start to regulate soon.
I still remember those days of returning to work like it was yesterday. I just think it’s so unfair that moms have to return to work just when the baby is becoming more fun to be around. All you can do is your best, and you sure seem to be handling everything really well!
I 100% agree. He just started developing his personality over the past couple of weeks and its sad that I can’t be at home with him during the day to see it develop even more.
I totally get where you are coming from. When I went back to work after my first, I felt like I had a double life. Eventually it all melts into one 🙂
Finding a balance with kids, work etc…is a big challenge and I’m sure there is no one answer for everyone. You just have to decided what works for you. I often run at lunch or once my girls go to bed/asleep and sometimes other things take a back seat.
Life has definitely become about prioritizing and juggling the best that I can.
Happy birthday! It sounds like you definitely had some nice gifts 🙂
Thanks, and yes I did.
Great job girl! You will find the balance that works best for you!
Thanks Mindy!
Happy Belated Birthday! I am so happy your little guy is starting to sleep through the night. That will be wonderful for you… great to have your Mom visit and help out, too. I hope you really enjoy your time together.
We are thoroughly enjoying having her here.
Congrats on making it through the first week, happiest of birthdays, and generally well done on everything thus far 🙂
Thanks!
Happy birthday! That drink looks good, is it sangria?
My biggest challenge is balancing everything during a busy week, and yoga is always the first to go when I have so much to do. I have a goal to keep doing more yoga, but sometimes it’s not possible.
Yes, delicious sangria. 🙂
It sounds like you had a good first week back to work and how awesome that your little man slept through the night for you on your birthday! I have a hard time balancing everything, ironically that is my biggest issue at the moment. I look at it like this, I don’t want my running/lifting/volleyball to cut into too much of my family time so ideally I lift in the morning before work and get my runs in after work so I’m not doing both in the evening. Of course with a new baby I think it would be harder to get up in the morning to do workouts. My little one is nine so it is easier for me and she wants to start doing some of these activities with me. Hang in there, you will figure out what works best for you and your family!
Right now getting up in the mornings to work out isn’t an option. I have to leave the house by 6:30 to get to work on time, and with little man’s sleep schedule still unpredictable working out in the morning is just unrealistic.
Extra sleep is the best present a mom can get ever! Hope you had a wonderful birthday
Thanks Deborah! The extra sleep was definitely the best present that he could give me.
Happy Birthday!!! Finding balance is a constant challenge as a parent, but it does get easier!
Thanks, I’m looking forward to the days when it does become easier.
HAPPY Belated!! I’m so happy to hear that little man slept through the night – what a great gift! I hope getting back into work gets easier as time goes on and I hope he loves day care once the time comes to go.
I’m hoping for all of the same.
Happy birthday and I hope the transition back to work goes as smoothly as possible. The gift of sleep from your baby is amazing. Hope it continues.
Me too Sandra.
Happy Birthday!! I hope you had an awesome day!
I’ve found that the best way to get around to everything is scheduling everything, and at the same time, having flexibility for when things don’t work out. And it looks like you are already doing great with this! You totally have it all under control!
That Sangira looks delicious, makes me want to throw out my “no alcohol before the marathon” restriction out the window!
Maybe treat yourself after a long run? 🙂
Thankfully, I was able to stay home with my kids until the youngest was in first grade. But when I did go back out into the “working” world, it was like starting from scratch in terms of balancing everything. Suddenly, I didn’t have time to leisurely run to the store or the luxury of staying up until 2:00AM if I was working on a project. Getting the evening meals ready was a total game-changer…and by then, the older kids were starting to have after school activities, so there were many new challenges with the whole “balance” thing. Guess what? It doesn’t get any easier LOL Two of the kids are in college, so we’re down to one remaining kid in the house, and I’m still winging it most days.
Life with kids is definitely a challenge, no matter their age.
When my kids were little, I wasn’t yet into working out. I wish I had been. I kind of was off and on. About the only thing I would do then was workout videos at home. I think it’s great that you’re out running!
Thanks Michelle!
Yay for the good sleep! I’m trying to enjoy what sleep I can now before baby comes. I’ve find my biggest challenge is that I often give myself too much to do – it’s like a best case scenario list…if I have the time and energy I will do ALL THESE THINGS. Simplifying the list to only show the 1 or 2 main tasks for each day has given me a better perspective. That way, when I do have extra time and energy I feel even more accomplished…as opposed to constantly feeling like I underperformed.
My to do lists are miles long, so I know I need to be better about prioritizing and focusing on the items that are absolutely essential.
That is so awesome your mom is visiting and helping you, and even more great you got to spend your Birthday with her. What a sweet mom, to come help you out right now while your making such big transitions in life.
I have no doubt you’ll get it all figured out, your a teacher you’re already super smart!
I remember one of my sisters had to get her workout time in, in odd moments. She turned housework into her cardio/cross. and went running in the evenings. As the weather gets better, maybe you can just figure out a way to turn your running time into mommy stroller baby time too and enjoy that together:)
Yes, we’re very thankful that she was willing to come when she did.
It will get a bit easier once you are all in a routine, but life with kids is always challenging. The challenges just change as they get older. You are doing great though! Good job on getting in your workouts.
Thanks Erika.
Happiest birthday to you! That sangria looked perfect!
It’s definitely hard to fit everything in, and once you think you’ve got a routine down, things change up all over again. It keeps you on your toes! You are kicking butt and doing a great job keeping it all together!
Thanks Jennifer!
Glad you had a nice birthday celebration with your mom and boys 🙂 Way to go on getting a strong long run in after being sidelined with a headache the previous weekend. I saw Dulles Runway registration is open 🙂 (not sure if I will sign up yet. I want to, but I will be close to taper at that point).
I saw that too. Since I plan to run Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly the next morning, I likely won’t be running Dulles this year, though I suppose anything is possible.
How wonderful that your Mom is there with you!! Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday and a good first week back to work! It is always a wonderful feeling when the baby starts sleeping through the night. Enjoy the sleep!! 🙂
OMG him sleeping through the night was the most wonderful birthday gift I could have ever received.
That is great you’ve made the transition back to working. You’ll figure it all out and the daycare schedule to get it done. I don’t have small ones around the house but they are still my babies, lol. My biggest challenge is finding the time to do things with them especially on the weekends and also getting in my longer runs. Most times it does work out but my sleep is usually effected.
There’s always so much to do and so little time. I need more days in my week!
My biggest challenge right now is motivation. Since I’m not training for anything it is hard to stay motivated. I really want to build my base now before marathon training but I just can’t run over 2-3 miles 2-3 times a week! I’ve at least been doing cycling 2-3 times a week as well to keep my cardio up.
I also find it hard to stay motivated when I’m not in training for a race.
Happy Birthday! I love that your little man’s gift to you was sleeping through the night. What a wonderful gift! 🙂
Absolutely!
Happy Birthday! I can’t think of anything better than getting to sleep through the night. It’s odd how us Moms just figure out how to make it all work. I can’t say it’s always easy. There was a point in my life with having to drive my kids to different schools with extremely early start times, that the ONLY way I could run was at lunch. So, that’s what I did — at the YMCA 2 blocks from work. Every day. For my sanity. LOL. I think you’ll quickly figure out a routine. Thanks for linking with us Kathryn.
I so wish I had time to workout over lunch. But with only 25 minutes each day to eat, its pretty unrealistic to also fit in a workout during my lunch break.
Good for you getting your 3 runs in last week! I’m so happy for you! Also, glad you had a great birthday!
Thanks Amy!