You might have noticed that I haven’t been putting out as many articles of late, or maybe you had no idea. The reason behind my lull in writing is to announce that we are expecting our second child in March 2021. Lachlan is thrilled and is blowing bubbles, Evie (our dog) is beside herself (sleeping on the couch), Jess has had some bad morning sickness but delighted, and I’m ecstatic, locked down, caring and busy all at once.
We are so happy with this news, after our IVF journey to get Lachlan, the easy and quick conception of this little bub is extraordinarily welcome.
The timing makes me wonder, will our little one be a part of the generation called the Rona boomers? Our child may also do a Bane and claim that “we all merely adopted the Rona and that I was born in it.” I’m desperately hoping that all of my children love sci-fi/fantasy too. I don’t think they will have a choice.
So that I don’t drop the ball, Henceforth, I will refer to the child as Adbaby. Yes, we have a name and know the gender. (All top secret for now). Our little Adbaby has been kicking it’s Mummy’s butt with morning sickness. According to the thirteen-week scan, it is as healthy as a sunny day.
It’s been a crazy year for the Adfamily, so I thought I’d use the majesty of a PowerPoint smart art to illustrate the events so far:
All of this and it’s only the start of September. What a year! All of this joyous news brings up issues many parents have had to deal with these past few months; the hardest is working from home with kids. One of the highlights of my WFH experience is changing a nuclear nappy while on a conference call. Of course, I had the video, and mute buttons turned off, but there’s nothing like a good old media presentation when you’re up to your elbows in crap.
I have my home office setup, which is “flexible working”, but I have been practising flexible, flexible working. It takes its toll, parenting a child and paying attention to work in tandem. With my partner bed-ridden with morning sickness and stage 4 not allowing you out, it feels very lonely. Don’t get me wrong; it’s fantastic that I’m at home with Lachie, but, when you are trying to present, and a child is screaming in the next room, it wears you down.
I thought I’d share some of the strategies I’ve been implementing to help lift me out of these doldrums. Firstly, my wife and I identify if each of us is struggling. Identification is the most challenging part, to be able to step back when you are frustrated as anything and say, I need to remove me from this situation. I generally go for a pleasant and long walk with my ever- faithful puppy. While On walks, I meditate, call someone to talk things through and also listen to an audiobook. At the moment, it’s called “Changing body composition through diet and exercise.”
I find that if I perform these things, it helps to re-energise me to get back to work and look after Jess and Lachie.
I hope you are all plugging away at this lockdown/pandemic. Remember to talk to someone if you feel like it’s all getting too much.
Adman is on Facebook, feel free to reach out, I’d love to have a chat.