1. I didn't feed her lunch a couple of times because I wasn't hungry so I forgot :(
2. I went out twice without diapers cause, hey, I don't wear them so why would they be on my mind? I ended up having to give her a bath at my friend's house and then drive home without one on. Think Three Men and a Baby but with two 40-something women. Comical.
3. I fed her tuna and then later worried about allergic reaction and then realized I gave her strawberries last week.
4. I couldn't find her bottles or sippy cups but knew she wanted water so I put some in a plastic container and handed it to her where she was sitting on the floor like she was a puppy or something :(
Is she serious?
Ok, whatever, Mom.5. I couldn't sleep with her constant kicking so I went into the den. She woke me up at 8:15 but usually gets up at 7am. What was she doing all that time? Glad the place is baby proofed!
6. I fed her Cheerios for dinner because we got stuck in major traffic during the dinner hour and that's what I had in the car.
7. I forgot to check her diaper post-nap and ended up with poop on my new carpet. Oops!
But for the most part I think I am doing pretty well for a new mom. We are into a little routine.
Wake up, play a bit, get dressed.
Breakfast, play more, errands, snack.
Lunch, nap, play more.
Dinner, play, bath, get ready for bed, books, prayers, sleep.
I don't know how things will change when I have to go back to work in 3 weeks. I can NOT believe that my time off is already half over. That is sooo unfortunate, but so is not getting a paycheck so it's back to work I go. I can't imagine how tired and overextended I will be then.
Meanwhile, I am looking at my list of things to do before I go back to work. My daunting to do list. Here is just a sampling...
1. I have got to figure out day care still. I am still waitlisted at a place where I don't have to sign a 12-month contract. This is key since I don't work in the summer. Stupid to pay for day care if I am off work. Now if I get a summer job that pays more than daycare I might consider it but for now that job doesn't exist. There is a very nice daycare right near my house with openings now. It's Spanish immersion, very diverse, not outrageously expensive but a 12-month contract. If nothing pans out that's where she will be.
2. I have to work on her readoption process and apply for her social security card. My job sent me a letter yesterday saying they were going to drop her from my health insurance unless I give them a copy of her s.s.# by April 2nd. Three weeks? Great. I don't know if I can get one that quickly without her being readopted. Must figure that out this week.
3. Taxes.
The list has about 7 other critical items on it but I won't bore you with the details. Instead I'll post a cute photo :)
Yay! Injera!
17 comments:
I don't think they can do that--eliminate your daughter due to no SS. For what it's worth, my agency told us to apply for the ATIN right away, which replaces the SSN on tax forms, etc. I think your insurance should be able to accept that--the ATIN, which only took a few weeks for me to get.
what is ATIN?
That also doesn't sound right to me, about needing a SSN for health insurance - I don't think you can re-adopt until you've been home 6 months anyway. ATIN is a tax id number for people who work in this country and have to pay taxes but are not citizens, I think the A stands for alien but I'm not 100% sure. I would go talk to the HR people at work before I did anything else!
Sounds like you two are having a great time! It is nice to hear the ups and downs....because seriously who doesn't do half of those things from time to time.
Really great to read your experiences and thanks for sharing. It gives me some insights on what to expect. There is an organization called single mothers by choice. I'm sure they have a group in your area. I belonged to a group in Colorado but they don't have one where I live now. This group provided lots of insight about parenting as a single parent, had meetings where kids were encouraged to attend, provided an opportunity to share experiences with like minded people, and some shared childcare once in a while for evening outings for the mothers. Also, it's a good referral source for so many things. You might find the group to be of interest. They typically meet once a month and rotate meetings at each others house. Keep keeping it real.
Laura-
Mommy fails are learning experiences. :)
Almaz is smiling so you are doing something right.
Suggestions...
Talk to your HR dept and ask them what other doc they will accept. You generally need a SS# number or registration/cert of birth as proof for health insurance however; they should be able to accept the card that allowed her into the USA until you readopt.
Make it a GREAT week...
Sen
@dana - i belong to SMC. thanks for the suggestion. they are a great group of women.
Thanks for the laugh! Naomi Almaz got food, water and is smiling so she is good! Just be happy she did not christen your car. ;-)
It sounds like you gals are doing great. She'll never remember those little mix-ups. You can get a SS card now. You'll just need to go back and change your daughter's status when she becomes a citizen after you readopt and get her COC. I took my adoption paperwork, my daughters greencard and passport and my id to the SS office a few days after we got home and got a card for her pretty quickly after that. My company also required a SS# to add my daughter to my insurance.
I love your post!!! Its crazy the first two weeks! but u will have a break thru when u say this ain't to bad after all.
lol
Love this post!! Just a thought for daycare..not sure if they have this in your area..but I went to my state's govt website (the same one that shows health code ratings for restaurants) and found one for daycares. Then I was able to call some of the smaller in home daycares! I found one a mile from my house and she will only have 3 chidren all my little boys age!! And she was much cheaper! just a thought!
The ATIN is the temporary tax id number they issue for people w/o SS#'s. It takes 6 weeks to get and it's a five line form you fill out and send. You can find the link to the form on my blog under the Tax info post I wrote a couple of weeks ago.
Wait - I wasn't supposed to give Holly strawberries??
...hang in there Momma, you're doing fine!
If I didn't think CPS would take my children away (the grown daughter included), I would share with you some of my stories, like the time I didn't pack enough diapers while visiting my Yaya while in a nursing home and ended up having to use one of her adult disposable undergarments along with one of those blue bed liner thingys as a makeshift diaper for Babysongbird---now that was a big, puffy hot/wet mess of a ride home in her infant car seat!!!
And I won't even get started on what I put into her bottle to suck on until we got home from another visit. All and all, I see smiles on Almaz's face---Big, beautiful smiles!
This is such a cute post. Totally normal and real! She did wonders with the water; the kid's pretty smart. LMBO!
Laura-
Thanks for this post. I can relate to some of the items- especially forgetting to feed the child lunch. This has happened on a few occasions but thankfully not recently. I keep a small package of diapers in the trunk of my car. I also have a small towel and chlorox clean up wipes. I know it sounds crazy but they came in handy a few times when Senait had massive diarrhea that came out of the diaper and into the carseat. This hasn't happened in four months but I am too paranoid to take the stuff out of the car. Tonya
Ok # 4 made me laugh hysterically. I would tell you that the mommy fails stop, but I'd be lying, since today I took my 7 year old on a bike ride with no helmet. (It was a new bike... the helmet was with the old bike... ok yeah no excuse.)
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