A big change to life as I know it

My life will be changing soon. And as much as I’m excited about what this big change will bring, I’m also a little sad.

The big change is that in five more weeks, both of my kids will be in full-time school. It’s a milestone event for them, and for me. Because for me, I made a conscious decision to leave a full-time job to stay home with my two kids. At the time of that decision, they were 3 and 1. Now they’re 6 and 4 — no longer babies. I can hardly believe it’s been more than three years since I left my full-time job — time certainly flies by when you have children.

So, on the positive side of this big life change, here are a few things I’m looking forward to:

• Being able to work during regular business hours. Let’s face it, I’ve been working in this business on a part-time basis for three years now. And for three years, I’ve worked during nap time, half-day school time, and in the wee hours of the morning time. To me, it almost feels like a foreign concept to be able to work between the hours of 9 and 3.
• Meeting friends and clients for lunch. Again, let’s be honest here. I haven’t ‘done’ lunch in over three years — unless you count ‘doing’ lunch at McDonald’s PlayPlace.
• Arranging a meeting or coffee with a client without having to arrange for childcare. This one has been one of my biggest challenges in the last few years — in fact, there has been more than one occasion where I’ve brought my kids with me to meet with an understanding client or I’ve met with clients around my kitchen table while my kids watched a movie in the other room simply because I couldn’t find childcare.
• Going to personal appointments, running errands and doing the groceries without an entourage. Because seriously, can I tell you how many times I’ve had to bring the kids to the dentist with me? (And here’s where I say ‘thank you iPad, for entertaining my children while I get my teeth cleaned’.)

But, I’ll be honest, the nostalgic side of me is dreading this big life change. But that dread goes along the same lines as lamenting the fact that my babies are growing up. What I’ll miss most is simply being with my kids all day/half days. Over the last three years, some days may have been long – so long that I contemplated putting the kids on the front porch with ‘for sale’ signs around their necks — but the weeks and years have flown by.

I’m going to miss them when they go to school. But I know I’ll quickly fall into a new rhythm of working during the day and spending some quality after-school time with them. And, in a blink of the eye, it’ll be next June and my head will be screaming ‘what do you mean, the kids will be home every day, all day for 9 weeks!’.