I would love to blog more, but by the time I get the kid off to bed and finish everything I have to do, my brain capacity is so diminished that I can only do passive activities like surfing the web and reading books. I am incapable of accomplishing or creating anything in the hour or so before I have to go to bed so that I can get up with my early-rising baby and make it through the next day.
We've been out of town the last two weekends. Two weekends ago we were at the in-laws' for the 4th. Dr. Mr. and Dr. Mrs. CT visited and a lovely time was had by all, even though K took a long nap and missed the parade where they throw candy from fire trucks. This weekend we were back for JW's grandmother's surprise 90th birthday party. His sister and brother-in-law came up north for the occasion.
K took his first boat ride and went swimming in the lake. This weekend he learned the word "no" and we think he is growing some molars. Last night he woke up every couple of hours screaming and today he refused to sleep and was miserable by the end of the day.
The combination of work and baby is exhausting even with JW doing both dropoff and pickup every day and me working more or less 9-5 summer associate hours. So far all we've figured out for sure is that when I start working for real, we are going to hire a cleaning service. I do not know how people do the dual career thing with kids. Somebody told me that at a meeting of female attorneys, a senior partner flat-out said, "You need a nanny or a spouse at home." The person who told me this was kind of shocked, but after only a month or two, I'm starting to believe it.
I love my summer job, but it will be wonderful when life returns to its laid-back law school pace. I am going to enjoy every minute of the last 1/6 of my three-year vacation.
5 comments:
Definitely go for housekeeping, at least. It helped me give up the guilt of not doing everything I "should" and allows me to do more of what I want to do - play with the baby and the odd computer game. :) And I am always very excited to go home to a pristine house on cleaning day!
"You need a nanny or a spouse at home."
It's hard for me not to feel angry at hearing this. Or else what? You're really tired? Having a nanny or a stay at home spouse is not something most people can afford. I guess most people are really tired. There has to be an alternative. Personally, I hope it's "Mom and Dad both working <45 hours a week and having family-friendly employers." But it's not like if it's difficult we have the option to just call the nanny agency.
Now, if it's "Or else you'll never make partner," well, whatever, carry on.
and I meant angry at the partner/the workforce that makes people say that, not at you :)
maybe it is "or else you have a really messy house"?
for what it is worth, my partner and i are both working full time, we can't afford a nanny, we have a four-month-old, and we aren't *too* tired. but the house is definitely messy most of the week and we only clean on weekends. i can live with that. (don't know how it will possibly work with 2 kids though!)
-sarah
I should have clarified about the "you need a nanny" remark: the context was, "To succeed as an attorney in a large law firm, you need a nanny or a stay-at-home spouse," not "to have a successful legal career..."
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