Baby ‘Holiday’ – ahem!

“Oh, you’re off on your ‘baby holiday’ then?” said a colleague to me before I left work to have my second child.

 

Cue the blank stare from me. Was he joking or serious? Thankfully, I knew him well enough to know he was kidding me, but it got me thinking – is that what some people think?

 

Baby – yes. Holiday? No.

 

Really, no.

 

With my first, I think I even deluded myself into thinking I’d have lots of free time to do those redundant but enjoyable things you don’t get to do when you’re working full time. I even kidded myself that I’d catch up on box sets of Mad Men, organise my entire wardrobe, crochet several projects on my to-do list, and even, (yes, I’m sad) EVEN complete a jigsaw. (Shut up, they’re fun) Obviously after my little girl came along I soon realised that it wasn’t going to happen – especially considering that she wasn’t much of a ‘napper’!

 

Those of us who’ve been lucky enough to have a decent amount of maternity leave (and I could only afford six months) all understand that yes, it’s amazing to have that special time with your little squish, but it is certainly not a holiday. It’s a whirlwind of emotions, adjustments, organising, feeding, washing, bathing, rocking, night-waking, playing, visiting relatives, yawning, weaning, dressing, undressing, grocery shopping and it goes on…

 

But this time around, with my second, I definitely enjoyed it more. No, ‘enjoyed’ is the wrong word. I savoured it more. I made a promise to myself that I would get ‘out’ more this time, that I would get up off my big bum and DO things. And I did. I went out for walks more, I took myself out for a coffee and even went to baby yoga with my little man, and loved it. And contrary to my fears, it wasn’t a shiny-faced-sweaty-Primark-legging-wearing me surrounded by skinny-jean-wearing-yummy-mummies who looked down their noses at me. It was fab! I met some lovely people, and my little man and I had some special ‘time out’ to bond. Priceless, if you ask me. I also vowed to make sure that this baby would take decent naps, and I’ve managed it – just about.

 

Before I realised, back to work time was looming. Maternity leave whizzed, literally whizzed past me. I felt like one minute I was just home from hospital, hobbling about the house, and the next I was trying to find some decent non-maternity clothes that weren’t covered in baby food and were relatively suitable for work. I couldn’t believe how quickly it went.

 

So, for any mums out there still on maternity leave, or mums-to-be about to embark on the journey, I say, cherish the time you have with your little one, because it goes by so fast. And make sure you get them to nap. You never know, you might even get to do the occasional jigsaw….like me.