Two Thanksgivings ago we spent a long vacation in England visiting relatives, one of whom was a five-month-old baby, my niece. My sister-in-law was the brand new, first-time mother of this baby girl, and knowing that I would soon be a brand new, first-time mom myself, I was all ears and eyes and mouthful of questions about the everyday mechanics of taking care of a baby. My SIL gave me a ton of great advice (and maternity clothes), but I think the best education I received about motherhood came from just being around an infant all day, every day, for several weeks. It’s an experience I recommend all expectant mothers seek out. 

Living with a baby for an extended period of time is vastly different from other common baby encounters, like holding your coworker’s kid during the office holiday party, changing a wet diaper “just for the fun of it,” or babysitting for an afternoon. Even the worst of us can figure out how to take care of and entertain a tiny human being for two or three hours, but up those two or three hours into twenty-four, and make that one day into every day, and we must dig into our reserves–of creativity, of patience–to answer the question “What do you do with a baby all day?”
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And now, ladies (and gentlemen?), my infant son and I will perform our greatest trick to date: the Structured Nap! Stand back, observe, and be amazed!
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Remember that post in which I speculated about what my home office would look like after the baby was born? Well, now that he’s here, I’m living proof that no matter how much you try to plan out and prepare for your post-baby life, you never know what challenges will arise.
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Today is my first real day of maternity leave and I hardly know what to do with myself. I finally finally finally finished up the last of my office projects late last night, and yet my due date is still ten days away (although I’m scheduled to get a little “help” as early as next Wednesday), which is at once So! Soon! and also a vast expanse of unplanned, unfilled time to do who knows what. I of course have a to-do list that could keep me busy through 2010, but even as much as I’m relieved to have this opportunity to cross off the errands that have been on that list and on my mind for the past few weeks (and months), I’m also toying with the idea that now is my time to just rest and relax while I have the chance. The question is: Can I just rest and relax?
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I got my first job when I was fourteen, working a few hours a week as an assistant to a city planner to earn money for a trip to Europe that never actually happened. The whole job thing was a surprisingly casual arrangement considering I was essentially employed by the gov’ment: I showed up after school, made copies, filed business licenses, ran waste paper through the industrial shredder, and went home two or three hours later. I once spent an entire shift coloring toothpicks with a brown marker so they could be used as tree trunks in a scale model of a building project; after I got my drivers license, sometimes I got to run errands in the mayor’s Crown Victoria. The job was a piece of cake. At the end of every week I printed out a time sheet, penciled in the hours I’d worked, and then handed it to my boss (who incidentally eventually married my cousin and now sits across the dinner table from me every Christmas Eve). It was just the right amount of responsibility for a young teenager entering the workforce.

My next job wasn’t so laid-back…
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