Half-Dose of Reality

Today marks the beginning of half-reality; that is, B starts back to work half days today, and I begin compiling documents and info to start teaching one class next Monday (compared to the four I was teaching right before Miss N arrived, this is definitely a light load!). I can't mark this passage without saying how idyllic and lovely it has been having B home for two full weeks. I am not sure if he would characterize the paternity leave in quite the same glowing terms, but for L it has been fantastic, and made even more fantastic by the fact that it exists at all, since all the paternity leave was used up on NICU time when C was born. In contrast, this time, we just got to sit around and get used to each other. It makes me wish a person could take 2 weeks off of work whenever anything changes, just to have time to get used to it. I think it would be a much more humane system.

With all that being said, half days aren't that bad, I guess, although apparently B is currently trying not to drown in a sea of emails today as he returns to work.

And the good news is, so far we are doing well here, and I have not lost either one of the kids in a pile of laundry or bucket of toys. N is sleeping now (though who knows for how long -- she slept so much yesterday that she is making up for it by eating a LOT today) and C is winding down for nap.

Which leads me to my own work. Preparing to teach this class is something like preparing to take a bunch of cats for a leash-free walk. Where do you start? How do you keep all those mewling little fuzzies from just running away as soon as you open the door? Has anyone ever written a comprehensive guide to doing this? (answer: no). But it's online work and it's interesting once it gets started, so I'll take it. When it comes to work-related compromises, herding a few cats is no big deal in comparison to what I have had to put up with in previous jobs, for instance:

(1) The boss who threw garbage at me (really!)
(2) Having to pretend that I deeply care about the obscure agendas of tiny corners of state offices (i.e. marketing starfruit and tropical fish to the citizens of Florida)
(3) Loading frozen turkeys into the backs of SUVs for able-bodied men

Overall, some annoying back-and-forth email is no big deal. :)