Whirlwind

I originally wanted my first blog post to be a summary of what an average day looks like for me. However, because my current routine is rather different due to circumstances I’ll explain below, I decided to delay the original post, and instead blog about what things have been like lately.

About two weeks ago, my husband underwent a minor surgery for a hip injury he’d developed while working out. Though the injury happened back in August, the timing of the surgery came unexpectedly. The doctor had tried a couple of other treatment methods first, and when they didn’t work, my husband decided to go ahead with the surgery, which got scheduled to take place a little over a week following his appointment.

Although the abruptness of the surgery was daunting at first, we were fortunate that our schedules were flexible enough to accommodate for the recovery period, which thankfully only took two weeks. Neither of us was taking classes, so we both decided to work remotely until things went back to normal. We also stacked up on essentials to minimize the time spent running errands. With a battle plan in mind, we were ready to take this surgery head on.

My husband left to the hospital at 5:30 am on a chilly Tuesday morning. His surgery started around 7 and took three hours. I dropped off our son at daycare at 8:30 and headed to the hospital. The surgery went smoothly, and since it was an outpatient procedure, we were home by noon.

For the rest of the week, we managed pretty well. My husband was in crutches and a hip brace, so his movement was minimal, but since our son was in daycare during the day, it was easy to help my husband with his needs. Things were a little more challenging when our son was home in the evenings in terms of dinner preparation, bath and bedtime. But since that took only a couple of hours of our day, it was managable. Fast forward to the weekend, and that’s when things became hectic in a theatrical sort of way.

First of all, it rained nonstop, so the time that would breeze by easily outside we spent indoors. It wasn’t that bad at first, and my son didn’t complain. But when it was time for him to take a nap – the time when we usually recharge and relax with some black tea and dark chocolate – my son decided he wasn’t doing naps anymore. Not only that, but he mustered the courage to climb out of his crib. After one and a half hours of failed attempts to put him down to sleep, we gave up. That night we converted his crib to a toddler bed. Needless to say, that only made bedtime harder. To top things off, my left foot got swollen because of a new pair of rain boots that weren’t compatible with my feet, so I limped around for a couple of days chasing our little spirited toddler.

Somehow we made it through the weekend, and I was very appreciative of my neighbor who took my son for a playdate with hers so I could take a break on Sunday night. The rest of the week flew by smoothly. I’m finishing this post on the following Sunday, and things have gotten much better. Or maybe I became more resilient. I’d like to believe it’s a combination of the two. Either way, our son napped today, and that in itself is more than we could ask for. My husband will be off the hip brace and crutches tomorrow, so we’ll be back to our usual routine in no time.

I’ve gained huge respect for mothers after becoming one myself, and in particular stay-at-home moms. Caring for kids full-time can be very taxing, both physically and mentally. Having a network of support makes all the difference, but unfortunately not every mom has that. So, I just want to take a moment to send appreciation to all those moms out there.