Saturday, April 17, 2010

Maternity Leave

I am eating a bon bon. True story. ...And my feet are up. I'm also doing laundry, but I won't completely kill the moment. I am eating bon bons and my feet are up. Big sigh of relief. I managed to finish my last event before Elijah is born, and it went well and I DIDN'T drop the ball. This is a really good feeling and I am cherishing it. I'm still kind of a whirlwind of activity since this is the big get-ready-for-baby weekend, where we try to tackle our to do list. But, I feel mostly energized for it- well, as energized as a 37 and a half week pregnant woman can feel.

Maternity Leave. It has such a good ring to it. I like calling my break to have the baby "maternity leave", because it feels official and people who work regularly salaried jobs get it as a benefit. Because I am self-employed, this is not a perk I get with paid time off. But, I'm looking on the bright side because it is time off that is much needed. The word maternity relates to many feelings. As a noun, it means "the state of being a mother; motherhood. The feelings or characteristics associated with being a mother: motherliness." As an adjective, it means "relating to or effective during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first months of motherhood." All I can think of is Matenity Clothes...yuck...and I can't wait to be done with them!! Don't get me wrong, I have gotten some cute stuff passed on from friends and have collected some myself in moments of "I-cannot-stand-what-I'm-wearing-for-one-more-second.". But, I'm done. As I was folding laundry tonight, I was coming across clothes that I haven't worn (or even seen) since prior to pregnancy, and it's actually kind of fun. These clothes have a shiny, new appeal. Some I look at and think, "This will be great for the belly flab." Some are, "I wonder when I'll ever be able to wear this again?...was it always this small?.." and some are, "I should just throw this away now, because, let's face it, this is never going to look the same on me ever again." Ahhh...the joys of motherhood! I'd trade it all in again because being a Mom has been the single most rewarding thing I've ever done, but I still hope to get the bod back...eventually...

Well, I'm winding down, and Charles is a busy bee in the other room, re-painting. (Yay!!) So, even though I'm looking at a night on the pull out couch to avoid paint fumes, I am going to bed a happy girl tonight. Content. Things are not perfect, but life is good. ...And it's birthday party season!!! (Yup, when you have kids and then make friends who have kids the same age, there is a whole "season" of birthday parties.) Christian has come to expect that there will be a party of some sort, so he asks everyday, "We go to a birthday party today, Mommy?" "No, not today sweetie...but it's Tyler's birthday party on Saturday, and Sara's birthday party on Sunday, and..." :) And I love it just as much as he does!!!!

(P.S. Thanks Kelle for the song suggestion!)

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