The adoption is really the center of this blog, but sometimes the rest of my life spills over. My husband and my children, including the one we are adopting are undoubtedly the center of my world. Still there are other parts and pieces of my life that makes me balanced and enriches me. Balancing all of the parts and pieces of my life continues to be a challenge, and no more so, than during the final weeks of this adoption.
I want to be the best mother possible to my twins that’s my #1 priority. But I also balance this with having a career. I started a new job after they were born, and I have a responsibility to live up to the job I was hired to do. It’s become more difficult to balance this as we’ve moved forward with the adoption. This week, I’ve begun to feel as if I’m in the middle of a hurricane.
I got promoted at work, er, well, sort of. I’m being promoted to the position I was originally hired to do (long story)– I’ve spent the last-year building an on-boarding and training program for my company and I’m now going to transition into the role I thought I signed up for from the start. I asked for the change and am excited about it, but it also means that I have to hire and train two replacements so that I can transition to the new role -during the final weeks of the adoption. The baby is coming early. Life could not be more complicated or out of control right now. I have evening meetings every week to help plan and prepare work for my leave; I’ll have to travel shortly after I return from maternity leave due to the new job responsibilities. It’s going to be a challenge.
The baby coming early means our well-laid transition plans are out the door. I don’t even have time to interview anyone, let alone get someone hired and trained! My company is also experiencing a rapid period of growth right now, so the workload is growing exponentially. And then there are those other pesky little details: hire a nanny, get the baby’s room ready, travel to see birth mom, plan for the birth, pack up everything the girls will need and arrange for childcare when the baby is born, legal issues, pay adoption bills, apply for a loan, take not one but two cars in due to recalls. The list has grown out of control and there are days when I feel like the storm is just swirling around me getting worse every second.
I had a bit of a meltdown over the enormity of all we need to accomplish in the next two weeks. But after my meltdown, I found my moment of zen. We can do this, we’ll tackle each item one at a time, and it will all work out. Yes, I’m obviously crazy to have taken on a job change in the middle of all of this, but we will figure things out. I embrace crazy; I’m over-the-moon at having three children under two. Crazy is obviously my middle name.
We will adapt. And if we can find the eye of the storm, we can remain calm as the world is crazy around us. In the end, the job change is the right thing for my family. The pain of the change will be temporary. And I need to keep my priorities clear. It’s not easy to be a working mother, but it’s not easy to be a stay-at-home mom either. Everyone has to prioritize and find balance. I need to keep an eye on my priorities as I navigate this change.
My challenge is to find this balance as we welcome a son into the world. I may not have a replacement trained before my maternity leave starts, but it won’t be the end of the world. My coworkers are wonderful, compentent people, they’ll pick up the work and do their bests. Clients will understand. We’re having a baby! Life rarely goes as planned when there is a baby involved.
The challenge for myself is to not get so caught up in the shuffle, the craziness at work that I’m not able to fully enjoy the birth, our son, and my maternity leave. This is precious bonding time that I’m able to have with my son. My husband doesn’t get the same thing. He’s going to have a single week to bond with him. That hardly seems fair. So, I’m going to find a little piece of calm in the middle of this crazy and make sure that I enjoy the time I get to bond with Baby H. I’m going to revel in having more time with all of my kiddos. It’s going to be crazy, but you know, sometimes crazy is just another name for fun.
Cancer Ever After 
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