As I've mentioned in several posts from the previous month or so, I've recently changed jobs and, in doing so, have embraced a more conventional work schedule (if you really care, please feel free to catch up on these exciting developments by clicking here, here and -- hell, why not? -- even here). While this has immeasurably improved various aspects of my life (no more grueling overnight shifts), it has sadly impinged on the amount of time I get to spend with my little daughter, Charlotte. I consider myself very lucky (though it probably didn't seem lucky to me at the time) that I was able to spend entire days with her (while my wife went to work) during my former schedule of regularly having two days off in the middle of the week. My time with Charlotte now is largely relegated to seeing her first thing in the morning (blearily stirred by her early morning chirping) and at the end of the work day (truly, as much as it sounds like a cliché, there are few things more rewarding in life than being greeted at the end of a draining day at the office by a gibberish-spouting, ebullient almost-two year old who toddles over to you with a giddy fervor as if she thought she might never see you again). We have weekends all together too, of course, but I can't help feeling like my time with her has been significantly lessened.
Compounding matters is the fact that in only a short couple of months, Charlotte is to be graced with a sibling -- a concept that she is, at the moment, blissfully unaware of. People have asked me, "Are you preparing her for her new brother or sister?", but how exactly does one impart a rather abstract concept like pregnancy to a 22-month old? I have a hard enough time grasping the notion myself, and I'm 38. How Charlotte is going to grapple with the cold hard reality of having to share the reign of the household with a new, diminutive sidekick remains to be seen. On the plus side, she has -- thus far, at least -- not been an especially territorial child. She doesn't seem especially vexed when other little kids want to share her toys, and she's normally pretty receptive to newcomers. But when she finally takes hold of the fact that this new little visitor won't be leaving any time soon, I'm concerned about what she might do. I'm convinced I'll come home one evening to find Charlotte pushing her new little sibling's stroller out into the hall in a defiant move that screams "NO MORE BABY!" in thick, block capital letters.
In the interim, however, I'm just enjoying each fleeting moment I get to spend alone with her.......apart from the ones when she's screaming her little head off in lieu of napping.
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