A bit different tonight.
I’ve now done 200 of this, which is a reason to be Glad already. I’ve been back at The Office seven months. I’m still here, and I’m still at work. This time last time I was heading full speed off the post-natal depression cliff, and I’m not now. Possibly because of The Blog, or more likely the dollops of counselling I had when I was ill. Either way I do spend my days trying to be Positive, and spotting the Three Good Things That Happen Every Day. So that makes me an expert in Going Back, and here’s my survival plan for anyone facing it:
Expect to be overwhelmed. Accept it. Don’t moan about it, don’t fight it and don’t try and fix it. You won’t beat it, It won’t get easier, no-one will notice how hard you try… so live with it. There is so much to do you cannot do it all, so just have that as your starting - and finishing - point. I am overwhelmed at work. I am overwhelmed at home. And it’s fine.
Because there are special moments. Son 2 aged 14m, after his MMR this morning. A heart-stopping scream, cured with a slurp of smoothie. “Son 1 (aged 4y 1m) doesn’t want to go to Africa any more since his MMR top-up,” I told the nurse. ”He doesn’t want any more noodles. He used to want to go on safari to see lions and elephants and giraffes.” “Uuhhh,” said Son 2, pointing at the picture I hadn’t noticed on the wall. Showing the ark, and the animals going in two-by-two. With lions and elephants and giraffes…
Tags: counselling, early speech, going back to work, learning to talk, MMR, overwhelmed, post-natal depression
