The new everyday

Today is my second day of work, and L's fourth of daycare. L made the transition like nothing was amiss. (Once again let me just say thank goodness for Ms. Hagi.) I continue to hear reports from any colleague who ventures down to the daycare about how calm and playful she is. On her first day, the building had a fire drill. The infants are all scooped up into one or two cribs and wheeled out together, while the rest of the children hold hands to form chains and walk with their teachers. And so it was that E was right by L, as well as by Ms. Yolanda, her teacher from the one-year-old room and one of her favorite people ever. And the strobe lights were blinking and the warning sounds were droning, and L was taking it all in with a big smile on her face. But E was about to burst into tears from all the noise and stimulation. Ms. Yolanda, for whom E feels a good measure of hero worship, looked at E, looked at L, and looked back at E. She said to E, "Look, L's not crying and she's a baby. You're the big girl, and if she's not crying, you don't have to, either." E looked at L, looked at Ms. Yolanda, and as Ms. Yolanda repeated to me that afternoon, then said with quick, shallow breaths and lower lip aquiver, "I a big girl. I no cry." And she didn't. May this be just the first of many occasions where L's serenity can have a symbiotic effect on her excitable sister.

The mornings are long. M and I wake up at 5:00 in order to get the four of us out of the house by 7:30 . But in that time, we both shower, I nurse L and put her down to play, wake E if she's not up on her own and attend to all of her routines, we get all of our meals and bags packed, assemble our goods in both cars, and head off. I think it's not bad. We have too many friends in whose families in order to get the entire family out of the house in a timely manner, at least one if not both parents have to sacrifice morning showers. But I still hope that one day we'll be able to streamline, particularly as E's abilities grow. Right now, her desire to get dressed "by herself" takes longer than were I to just put the clothes on her, but one day all of this practice will yield a girl who truly can dress herself, and I'll regain many hours in my week. It'll probably happen right around the time L wants to get dressed "by herself."

My new promotion brought a move downstairs to a new office, so my surroundings are different, but other than that sliding back into work life was very much a non-event. It was easy to return. The biggest difference is that for the past four years I've worked in offices designated as no food/drink/candy allowed. For the first time in my career in government, I'm in an "open space," which isn't open to anything, so I'm not sure what that refers to, but food and drink are not only allowed, they're commonplace. So when I swig from my water bottle, I'm not immediately poised with the cap in my other hand to close it and hide it like it was never there.

So we're getting it all done. But don't ask how the house looks. And Ms. Hagi wants more burp cloths.