My maternity leave from the farm is coming to an end this weekend. I will be back at it on Sunday. Has it really been seven weeks since Hannah was born? My time flies when you are not getting any sleep.
When I come back to work, my work schedule is going to look a little different. When I first started working on the farm, I worked three or four days a week. My duties included calf care, feeding the heifers and then milking and clean up. After Erik was born and I returned to the farm, I kept pretty much kept the same schedule. Erik would ride around with me in the Baby Bjorn and when it was time for milking, Lisa would lay him down to sleep. After milking I would carefully transfer him to his carseat and we would go home.
When Jonnie was born (winter time), I couldn’t carry him around like I did with Erik. Also, Jonnie had colic and would not sleep for just anyone or anywhere. We decided to change my schedule so that I would just do chores and no milking. Tim did the milking on my chore nights. This allowed for me to put the boys to sleep at night in their own beds.
Now, we are changing my schedule again. Tim is struggling to balance a job that requires 12-14 hours days and being their for his family. Jon also wants me to get back to milking so that I can “learn” the cows again. It is important to know the animals on the farm so that we are provide them the best care. Our compromise? I am going to back to doing chores and milking again. The big difference is that Tim will be taking the kids home after chores and being with them through the evening.
Tim will be in charge of feeding them supper, giving them baths, making sure they brush their teeth, reading them their stories and getting them to bed two to four times a week. I don’t think Tim has ever put the kids to bed alone.
This should be interesting for the first week or so, but I am sure Tim will do a great job. I’m am secretly excited that he will get a taste of what those evening crazies are like and I will get some “me” time without the kids. I am going to download a bunch of podcasts I would like to catch up on and listen to them in the parlor. I might even get to hear “The Story” on NPR (my favorite program) or catch up with “The Longest Shortest Time”
A side benefit to all of this that milking requires about two hours of constant standing and walking. It is an excellent calorie burning exercise. I hope to shed some of those pregnancy pounds!
Has having kids changed your work or home schedules? Tell me how you adjusted your life.
Emily
Zweber Farms is a 4th generation family operated organic dairy. We are proud Organic Valley farmer members and sell our milk under that label. We also specialize in sustainably raised beef, pork and chicken and sell it directly to customers in Minnesota.Visit our website to learn more, www.zweberfarms.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitterand YouTube.
Ooh, Tim taking on the witching hour! This sounds like a plus for both of you! I hope you enjoy your time away and all goes well Emily.
I’m starting to wonder how the “back to work” shift will go for us too. Jackson starts kindergarten almost simultaneously and I’ll have to get him to my work where he’ll get on and off the bus, not sure what time yet but no doubt it’ll be comparatively early to my current sleep schedule.
I’m starting to wonder how many kids can I have and still keep working with all the necessary running around that kids require. Family businesses do have their advantages don’t they? 🙂
Tim ended up doing very well. All the kids were in bed when I got home and the house wasn’t a mess.