Grandma-Time
We just came off of two weeks with grandmas in the house! The last week of January I was on Jury Duty. I was actually supposed to be on Jury Duty that same week last year, but I was able to defer it since I was nursing. The way Jury Duty is set up is that you have to call the day before to find out if you are actually needed or not, but if you are needed you have to be there at 7:45 and could possibly be there all day.... but likely only until mid-afternoon! Well, if there is a possibility, then I would need to have someone set up to watch Kayla for the maximum amount of time I might be there, just in case. So, instead of trying to coordinate anything like that, my MIL was able to come for the week! And as it turned out, I was called on Monday and was put on a trial that went through Wednesday! The case was a shoplifting case, so it wasn't an emotional case (there were few jury's that were picked that week for cases that would have been really tough to sit on- thankfully mine was not). It was a really great experience and I enjoyed learning more about the legal system.
After being at the Court House in the mornings, I went into work each afternoon. I put in over 30 hours at the bank and over 10 on Jury Duty. It was quite a strange week for me to go from staying at home full time to working over 40 hours outside of the home! But it was a nice break from Kayla. And it was a nice chance to make some extra money while we had a free babysitter! On Monday and Tuesday I had to be at the Court House so early that I didn't see Kayla before I left, and I didn't get home until after 6pm. When I did get home it was SO FUN to see Kayla and be able to play with her. Mom Taylor was so helpful and worked on dinner and later cleaning up while David and I played with Kayla. One thing I found out is that David and I don't often play with Kayla together. I play with her during the day and we take turns playing with her at night. But when we'd both been gone all day without seeing her we both wanted to give her our attention and we both were chasing her around the house and both were tickling her and both were rolling on the ground with her! It was really fun for both us and for her, so that is something we need to make more of an effort to do more often.
It was really nice to have Mom Taylor watching Kayla while I was out of the house. I didn't worry about Kayla at all and was able to really enjoy my Jury Duty experience and also able to help out a lot at the bank. However, I confirmed the fact that I would never choose to work full-time. I felt like I barely got to see Kayla and like I was missing out on so much. Since it was only a week, it was not a big deal. But to have to do that every week would be very hard for me. I would feel like I was missing out on so much of her life and the thought of that makes me very sad.
I have very few pictures of Mom Taylor and Kayla together, since I was gone most of the time! But here are a few that we captured! Thanks Mom T for watching Kayla and also for all the hard work you did around the house! It was nice for me to spend all my free time with Kayla and not have to worry about doing all of the things that need to be done to have a working household!
Mom Taylor left on Sunday and my mom came in town on Monday. She just wanted to come out and visit with us and didn't want to go too long without seeing Kayla! This is the week that made the most sense, even though it was back-to-back weeks with houseguests. I guess when it's family they aren't really guests, though!
I worked a little more than 20 hours at the bank over the course of 3 days the week she was here. It was really nice to have free babysitting while I was working! And frankly, work is so busy when I'm there that I don't really have a chance to think about Kayla at all! The Friday she was in town was David's Friday off, so I made arrangements to have that day off of work as well, and David and I spent the day together (a post on that is in the works!).
We had a great time with Mom Slighter and appreciate all her hard work of watching Kayla and taking care of things around the house as well! Thanks mom!
I realize that I am truly blessed to have such loving family and such a great relationship with both my mom and my MIL. Not too many people can say that. I wish that they lived closer because it was so nice to have them around and be involved with Kayla's day-to-day life. While I was at Jury Duty I met a woman and she was telling me about how she watches her daughter's kids one day a week and the other grandma watches them another day a week. Oh to be so lucky! I wish I was able to have family close enough so that would even be a possibility. I guess that is not my lot in life, but I often wish it was.