FAQ: How much do you work?
Answer: I am scheduled for two, 12 hour shifts, a week. Each shift goes from 6pm to 6am (really 6:30 by the time I'm done giving report to day shift). I work every other weekend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, then I have a couple nights off, work again Wednesday night, and then have 8 nights off before I work my weekend shifts again. It just cycles over and over like that unless I trade shifts or change it for any reason.
FAQ: Do you like being a working Mom?
Answer: I work because I love being a nurse, it's my hobby. The paychecks that come along with it are an added bonus, but I don't do it for the money. I choose to work nights so that I can do what I love, but not have to be away from my kids to do it. I leave for work at 5:45pm and Brynn and Mason are usually in bed by 8pm, so I only miss out on a couple hours which is pretty much the same as if I were doing some other hobby a couple nights a week. They get to have fun playing with Daddy and do things his way for a night. I get home around 6:45am and they usually wake up shortly thereafter to find I am home and for all they know I could have been there all night.
FAQ: Do you like working nights?
Answer: I love it. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a total night person.
FAQ: If you work all night then when do you sleep?
Answer: The reason I do most of my shifts over the weekend is so I can come home and sleep while Scott has the kids. I usually sleep for 4-5 hours broken up throughout the day, so it's not tons, but enough to get by. The weekdays after I work are different because I never work back to back shifts during the week and when I don't have to return to work that night, I only need a couple hours of sleep to get me through the day. So on the Mondays and Thursdays after I work I come home and when Mason and Brynn wake up I pack them up and go to my mom's house where she takes care of them for a few hours while I sleep in her basement. Like any mom she likes to spoil me sometimes when she doesn't have anything going on and won't come wake me up until 1 or 2. Gotta love those days.
FAQ: If you're going to be sleeping during the day then how is it any different than just working during the day?
Answer: If I were to work during the day I would leave before Mason and Brynn woke up and would get home after dinner just in time to put them to bed. I would be gone for their entire day. When I am sleeping I am still home, and they know I am there if they want or need me. Mason comes in my room to show and tell me about things he is doing and sometimes he just wants to come lay by me and I love it when he does (until he gets a little too wiggly then I call on Scott to lure him away). I wake up to nurse Brynn so she doesn't have to take bottles during the day and so I can see her excited smiling face and waving arms when Scott brings her into me. Also, if I worked days I would need child care for all 12 hours of the day no matter what. By working nights Scott just has to be home to sleep with the kids for the 12 hours I'm gone which he would be anyway. I try to make sure I get adequate sleep after I work, but sleep is flexible. If my mom has to teach a class or Scott has something going on I can shift around my sleep and even go without if needs be. Also I don't have to miss out on as many activities and can attend church every week.
FAQ: How do your kids handle you working?
Answer: I already talked about how they really don't know I'm gone for as long as I am. All of the time I am gone or sleeping they get to spend with their Dad or Grandma, their 2 favorite people in the world. Mason knows that the weekends I work he gets to play with Daddy all weekend and what little boy wouldn't be excited about that? He also Loves going to my mom's house. When I was on maternity leave for 3 months after having Brynn and my mom wasn't regularly babysitting Mason he started coming up to me and saying, "Mom, you go to work and I'll go to Grandma Nancy's, K." My kids are at no loss by me working. They just have closer relationships with their Dad and grandparents and because I get to get out and do something I love I feel I am a better mom for them when I'm home.
So there you have it. Hope that made some sense and will help make sense of my references to working. If you have any other questions let me know.
1 comment:
It seems like you pretty much picked one of the best professions to have and be a mom! Our moms being teachers is another great profession. My mom was always around and it worked out just fine.
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