This was The Super Carrot's first week of school. The first day was sad. I had dealt with it easily with my normal method of avoidance up until the morning of. As we were getting ready, and in a completely 'looking out for baby sister' way, Tucker asked me "What if Merritt misses you?" And that got me going. Fortunately, there was tons going on at work this week, and I had no choice but to dive in. Merritt had no choice but to drink out of the bottle, and by week's end was an old pro.

And I have had an amazing feeling of being on top of my game this week. No, my house is not clean, but I have gotten everything accomplished without an enormous amount of dread. I have even enjoyed work this week. Conversing with adults while NOT covered in spit-up has been wonderful. Eight years ago I never would have thought I would have gotten to this place. I hope my children are not too scarred by having a working mother. Sometimes I wonder if it would scar them more if I stayed home.

Managing expectations is a big part of life. We have a phrase we use at work--isolated epiphanies--that I love to use. I seem to have these random realizations that put me at ease with my life. There is no cookie cutter way to go about things. It is okay if we eat supper at 7:00. No one will die if the pile of laundry stays on the couch overnight. When I saw the above StoryPeople quote today, it spoke to me for this reason. "Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.

first day of school