Dear Editors: The baby ate my homework.Holy Moly. How is it Thursday already? Time is flying by. Nell is already 7 weeks old and spring break is just around the corner. In a way, I'm super-excited for warmer weather, but for the most part, I just wish time would slow down just a bit so I'm not in this constant frazzled state of anxiety, always worrying about what's next--and what I'm not getting done.
Or, maybe I just wish there were more hours in the day. As a freelance writer and editor, working from home has always been a challenge for me, but one that I've thrived on for the past six years. I'll never regret the day I left my magazine job to venture out on my own. At the time, kids weren't even part of the program, but my flexible schedule certainly lent itself to the ideal situation of being able to work and be a fulltime mom. Tossing two little ones into the mix wasn't enough of a toughie, so why not add one more. Well, newborns, as we know, have their own agendas. I just can't quite predict when that little lady will erupt with hangry cries or when a gassy stomach will send her into a screeching fit (poor girl). This makes working--and working out--with some sense of routine nearly impossible, yet I'm up against multiple deadlines for work and I have a half-marathon to train for. The stress of it all is literally raising my blood pressure.
Constantly reminding myself that the unpredictable newborn phase is fleeting, I am holding fast to the idea that it will get better. And in the meantime, I'm doing my best to make it work. And stay sane, for the sake of my kids and my extremely understanding husband (because, let's face it, I'm not very fun to be around when I'm stressed). Starting by joining a gym with a nursery that takes babies as young as six weeks. So on Monday, as Nell was lovingly held in the nursery by a sweet caretaker and Nora and Eamon romped around with other kids, I completed my first treadmill workout in six months. 8x400, dropping the pace from 7:45 to 7:15 pace. A far cry from what I was doing last summer, but I'm making sure to ease back into things. I didn't want to exhaust myself with one workout only to limp my way through the rest of the week. I held back, and the next day I was able to a relatively quick (for me) 3-mile tempo run which felt pretty good. Add to that the 8-miler I eeked out on Saturday (shout out to Becky W., who oh-so-patiently kept the pace sloooow as I suffered through that one), and I'd say the week's been pretty productive. If only I could say the same about my work. Thank goodness for understanding editors...
--Sarah