The Lay-Off- A Month Done and Gone

So there it is. A full month has gone by since the day that H came home declaring himself no longer gainfully employed. So much has happened in the last few weeks and life has taken to flowing a whole new way.

For one thing, we all sleep later. It is as if we are all on summer vacation. Fancy that. Except we are missing that carefree feeling of running to the ice cream truck and lazing by the pool. While H has devised a schedule of job hunting as a full time job and completing long overdue tasks around the house, my work has suffered. While I try to keep TD occupied and out of Daddy's hair it is almost impossible to do unless some electronic box is used to placate her. This annoys H to no end. When it's just TD and me we work together. She plays at my side while I try and diligently work away at least for four minute spans of time or whatever she is gracious enough to give me. Add Daddy into the equation and the kid is a 24/7 Daddy seeking missile. While it is also true that I get to run errands sans child now, a luxury I savor each time I employ it, our days are different and have less structure than they did before.

H and I have had to learn to communicate on a whole new level what with being up in each other's pie holes each and every day. We feel closer as a family though, and I did not believe for one second all that hooey about quality time as a family that people commented on in my original lay-off post, I have found that this indeed is true. Our routine might be a bit changed. We have regained our sense of balance in this new life and found new ways to thrive as a family. It all makes me almost grateful. Grateful to know that despite freezing our gym memberships, eliminating our contributions to TD's college fund and all the other cutbacks we have dealt with, including health insurance hell, we have found the basis of who we are as a family with even more clarity than we had previously. Things happen for a reason and for us it seems we needed to concentrate on our little family, to see who we are as individuals again and welcome this new baby in a much more unhurried fashion. It's a bit beautiful and I never anticipated that.

Are you choking down your lunch now? Are you trying not to vomit from all the schmaltz? Yeah, me too. Yet it is all true.

I get the funny feeling though that when H does go back to work it will be as if summer has ended and fall has begun. It will be back to school time for everyone in the house.