I had all these plans for maternity leave. Plans to go to my first Austin farmers market. Plans to take my daughter to swimming lessons. Plans to take a mini vacation to a nearby town. None of these things happened. I only have a week and a day left, and I have no idea where the time went. Most days were spent hanging out at home, a neighborhood park, or meeting up with friends. Most evenings were spent cuddling with my babies as they drifted off to sleep. Then of course my nights were spent watching TV show marathons on Netflix.
I had plans to reorganize my daughter’s closet, revamp my websites, and complete a multi-backup system for all of my digital photos. I’m only beginning to make a dent in all of these goals. Instead, I’ve spent much of my time making up stories with my daughter, and getting acquainted with my sweet baby boy.
I’d hoped I’d be some kind of master chef by now. Instead I’ve discovered I love to bake, and I’m still not very fond of cooking.
I thought I’d be able to keep a cleaner house since I’d be home more to clean it. But I’ve learned being home more just means there’s more of a mess to clean up. Cleaning then leaving the house is the trick.
I thought I’d still enjoy quality time more than quantity, and now I’m not so sure.
I hoped I’d be able to knock out at least a hundred Pinterest projects but I think I’ve done two.
Maternity leave is about recovery, and getting to know my new baby, but I’ve spent just as much time growing even closer to my daughter.
One thing I’ve learned during this experience is sometimes simple is better. After work I’d try to make up for lost time by planning fun activities and projects for us to do. Now, coloring a picture together, practicing writing our ABCs, or making up stories can be as fun as anything.
Lately my daughter asks me to make up stories about herself as a princess. The first one I told was a rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Since then, she’s enjoyed telling the story herself to family and friends.
Last week we were sent an HP ENVY X2 and an HP ENVY 120 e-all-in-one printer to try out and review, courtesy of HP. We were encouraged to make a craft or project together, so I thought it would be fun to draw out her story and print it for her to have.
I could tell you all about it, but instead I made a video of the experience, complete with silly outtakes at the end.
The video was probably just as fun to make with her as the story book (in case you’re wondering… Little boy was attached to me during most of the shoot, but quiet and asleep for most of the filming).
I’ve been thinking a lot about quality vs quantity time. I don’t feel like I see my daughter any more than I do when I’m working, but reality is I’m with her nine more hour a day five days a week. That’s insane. And you’d think she’d be tiring of me by now, but she’s attached more than ever, and always reluctant to go anywhere with her daddy when I’m not going too. She’s my little buddy, my tiny friend.
My maternity leave hasn’t been all it was cracked up to be. It’s been better.
Twelve weeks just isn’t enough. I’m just now getting the hang of things–into a routine, and now I’m going to change it all up again. Great.
Like our video? I’ll be giving you more details about the HP products in an upcoming post. I’ll also be doing a giveaway for the laptop/tablet, printer and a $50 Snapfish gift card.
I did this video review while participating in a program on behalf of HP and received an HP ENVY x2, and HP ENVY 120 All-in-One Printer, and a Snapfish Giftcard as a part of my participation.
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