Adjusting

Yesterday was rough. My house was still in shambles. I had tons of work to do. It was cold outside. And I had a very fussy baby. X is a VERY happy, easy-going baby. He sometimes goes the entire day without crying. But yesterday he was very aware that he was in an entirely different place and he was not interested in napping. He was clingy and every time I put him down, he cried.

Finally at 1pm, he hadn’t napped at all and he was so tired and so fussy. I brought him to my bed and wrapped my arms around him and petted his little head until he fell asleep. And then I fell asleep. I woke up an hour later and was SO happy he’d slept so long. He was still asleep, so I wiggled out from under him and started typing as quietly as I could to try to do a little bit of work. 2 hours later he finally woke up. I don’t think he’s ever napped that long! He awoke a MUCH happier baby.

But by the late afternoon, I felt absolutely defeated. Moving to camp with a baby was NOT a one person job. I should have had my husband come with us for a few days, not waited until he was in an entirely different state on business.

My mom offered to come to camp to help out. She always offers to help- at home, when I’m at camp, wherever I am, I know that she will offer. I don’t often take her up on it, but yesterday I said yes and immediately began a mental countdown of how many hours until she arrived. I looked at X and said, “because sometimes even mamas need their mama” and felt relieved at just the thought of her coming to help.

This morning my mom arrived at 9am. She brought several bags of groceries, took Olivia out to play (despite the fact that it was drizzling), got X to take two good naps, cleaned my house, reorganized my closet, fixed my floor, washed dishes, made me lunch, and was back on the road home by 5:30pm. My mom is like an efficient tornado and I wish I had a fraction of the energy she has.

The last time she was at camp was when my face swelled shut from poison ivy and she took care of me for several of the worst days of my life. I wasn’t poison ivy level miserable this time, but I was definitely not doing well. It’s amazing that having her for just a day turned everything around.

She left, I gave X a bath and put him to bed and looked around at my clean house and felt better. I feel calmer and more settled and ready to take on the challenge of camp this summer. My mom reminded me several times today that I love this job and while I don’t quite feel like it right now, I know that when I have a few more days to settle in and the sun comes out, and I re-adjust to camp life, that I will go back to loving it. Until then, THANK GOD for my mom who came to take care of me when I needed her.