Its been almost a full week since Colleen had to return to work, much to her dismay. She's coping, but barely as her maternity leave replacement has apparently made a bigger mess of things in an already completely messed up system. That being said, I have spent the same amount of time with the boys during the day, utilizing a recent New Jersey statute, Family Illness/Baby Bonding Insurance Benefits, wherein I get 12 total weeks, but get paid up to 66% of my income for up to 6 weeks (or $527/week). Colleen and I did our finances and determined that it would be less expensive for me to utilize this benefit than to pay for Day Care for 2 kids...and, best of all, I get to chill with my boys and get some quality time with them...which I've taken advantage of to the utmost of my ability thus far...and have made time to get some house and personal projects done.
I can say that, thus far, it has been a relatively injury-free week for all involved. We've only had one minor incident that could have been major, but, thankfully, was not. Matthew has a small scar on his dome due to this, but otherwise, no other evidence of his injury. I was attempting to put him in his little swing and my hip pushed the tray down on his head....thankfully, I reacted swiftly and used the faulted hip to slow the tray...saving the day. Well, I don't know if "saving the day" would be the phrase I would use...maybe "minimizing the potential injury of" the day would be more appropriate.
Otherwise, it has been a good week...me and the boys have done a lot together....running errands, getting outside play time, getting inside play time, wrestling (for Christopher), standing up with Daddy's help (Matthew), cleaning up spit-up, attempting to potty train, et. al....can't say I'm sorry for taking the time off...not yet anyway. Its been pretty cool to hang out with the boys...I think I'm going to miss it when I return to work (Jan. 3)
Oooh, I love all the new pictures! I especially love the black and white one at the top. It's just gorgeous, and it really shows how much Christopher loves his little brother. Adorable.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad things are going so well with the Daddy Day Care, although I'm not surprised because you're an awesome dad. How great that you have a chance to do this! Bonding time is always time well spent.
Give the boys a big hug for me!
Thanks for the very wonderful comments...I can tell you that it has been very good thus far. I'm very happy that I opted to take it. It's been some fun times. We are trying to potty train...that's a process and a half....otherwise, good time had by all
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