Bringing Work Home

Let me start by apologizing for the short "missing" spell. Not only did I hustle and bustle last week at the office (we had a short week), I part-hosted a quite successful Thanksgiving dinner, but unfortunately, my little toddler fell ill. Blah. We noticed a low fever late Wednesday evening that pretty much stayed with her through the weekend. After the appropriate doses of Motrin every 4-6 hours and plenty of fluids, Miss Ady Mae soon seemed to be improving.

 

So off to school Monday morning!

 

At 9:36 am, I got the call.

 

"Mrs. Stafford, your daughter seems to be running a fever and she's been asleep in the corner of her classroom for the past hour. She refused to eat her breakfast too. I think you should come and get her."

 

Luckily, my husband was home that day (cell tower construction is almost always at a halt when it's raining). So I called him and asked him to get her and I would meet him at home with some Pedialyte to nurse my little princess back to life. On my way home, I called her doctor and they were willing to see her right away.

 

Double ear infection and pneumonia. Great!

 

After two doses of her antibiotics and more Motrin, she's recovering now, and rather quick too, but is fully enjoying spending time at home with Mommy. We've been coloring and watching movies and eating ice pops. We also hung some Christmas decorations and assembled the Christmas tree. We've read numerous Disney princess stories accompanied by the normal princess tea parties. Don't get me wrong, she's still running a low temp (Motrin is in her diet now) and has not been too keen with eating so she's a little weaker than usual, but she's such a trooper, I tell ya!

 

This week is just full of first-timers for me. I've never really had the opportunity to work from home and deal with a sick toddler. I'm learning how to really manage my time now. Her constant demands for Mommy, my OCD on keeping the house tidy, and my boss hounding me every hour for work updates... it takes a special mentality to keep it all separated and focused to get the task at hand completed.

 

I've allotted myself a certain amount of time to work, clean, and play. Of course, when Ady needs something, I'll help her if I'm not giving her my undivided attention. Same with work. If I'm playing with Ady and my boss calls looking for an invoice or purchase order, I must take care of it right away. After all, she is paying me! I feel it's been more stressful working from home. It's easy to get distracted.

 

However, I am so grateful to be allowed to work from home during this time. Not very many corporate Mommies can bring their work home when their children are ill. They stress about making other arrangements with sitters or risk not working at all, which then reflects on your [lack-of] paycheck. Luckily, I know my daughter is not being neglected and my paycheck remains steady.

 

Who doesn't love baby cuddles??
So precious.

So I'll be posted up at home this week, or until the doctor clears Ady to go back to school. We've got plenty of food and lots of rain outside, so I'm going to pull my creative bunny out of the dusty hat and come up with some interesting games and activities to do inside while she recovers. Do any of you have any ideas or suggestions? What indoor activities do you play with your toddlers?