The juggle begins

Here's our new schedule:

6 a.m.: Everybody wakes up. (We set the alarm, but usually we hit snooze and are woken up by a yelling toddler before it goes off again.)
6:45 a.m.: JW leaves for work.
8 a.m.: K and I leave for daycare and work.
4 p.m.: JW leaves work to pick up K. JW comes home and makes dinner.
6-6:30 p.m.: I get home.
Before going to bed, I shower and lay out my clothes and pack my bag for the next day.

I sat down with the partner I'll be working for most and told him that I would like to be home for dinner and bedtime as often as possible. I assured him that I would stay in the office whenever necessary, and that I could continue working from home or even return to the office afterwards, but for those two hours each day, I would like to be at home. He seemed okay with that, although I'm sure he'll reserve judgment for a few months as we both see how things go.

So far, so good. JW has to get up two hours earlier, but he's happy to get out of work early. K isn't spending that much more time in daycare, and I think it's good for him to get more Daddy time. I need to get used to my days being jam-packed, especially since I'm like a ten-year old and need eight hours of sleep to function properly. But I like the job. ("I drafted an agreement!" I came home and said to JW, who replied, "Uh...okay. I mean, good for you?")

Our new schedule has been complicated by major sleep problems for K. (Which started a day or two before I went back to work, so at least I don't have to feel guilty.) K didn't sleep through the night until about ten and a half months, when we started letting him cry it out, and since then he's been a great sleeper. Happy to go to bed at night, only wakes up at night once a week or so, and generally goes back to sleep on his own. I saw it as payback for all those sleepless nights during the first year. But suddenly he developed major separation anxiety, refusing to go to bed and then screaming nonstop when we leave the room. Throughout the night, he keeps waking up and freaking out when we're not there. The first night, we had no idea what was going on and were in and out of his room all night. For a few nights I slept in his room. Two nights he threw up because he was crying so hard (and one of those nights, we didn't realize until after he had fallen asleep). Yesterday I tried telling him that we were close by, sleeping in our own bed, and that seemed to help. (This involved, among other things, a story about a mouse and a bunny who play with Legos together.)

As work gets busier, I'm not sure how the new schedule will work out. We'll have to play it by ear.