I'm Moving

Well, I'm not going very far. Actually, I'm changing shifts on my job.

You see, for the past four years, I've been working a swing shift, 3pm - 11pm. The reason for this is so I could stay home during the day with my youngest daughter. It was great being able to be home with her. The only downside is that during the week, while school was in session, I didn't see much of the other two kids. They were in school while I was home with Kylie, and then I was at work when they were home in the evening.

But, they were old enough to help out, make things work reasonably well, and I got to see them in the mornings before school, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Now, Kylie has started all-day kindergarten. And even during the first week, I knew things were going to have to change. All of a sudden, I had a five-year old who was in school when I was home, and at home when I was at work. She missed me very much, and as the week went on, she would call me, very sad, and ask me when I was coming home. On Mondays and Wednesdays I was able to pick her up from school and spent about 30 minutes with her before I had to leave for work. When I had to leave, she got very upset. She latched onto me tightly and asked me not to go. She asked if she could come with me. She said,

"But I'm going to miss you, Mommy", with a little quiver in her voice.

If that doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will.

I knew something had to change.

So, today I had a meeting with my supervisor and the person that's going to be taking over my evening shift. Starting on Monday the 25th of August, I'm going to be working from 8:30am to 4pm Mon-Thurs, and still keep my Sunday morning shift. I'll have Friday and Saturday off like I do now.

I should be happy about this, but I'm not. I know Kylie misses me, and I miss her too. But there are so many things about swing shift that I like. It's rarely busy, so I can usually do what I want. There are only a couple of other people in the office, so no one bothers me. It's quiet. Also, I can get things done during the day. Errands, housekeeping, laundry, grocery shopping, all done when no one else is home. If someone has a problem at school or is sick, I'm home to take care of it. I'm available to volunteer at the elementary school.

Basically, the only downside to the swing shift is not being home with my family. But that's one big downside. I can't say I'm happy about moving to days. I'm really not. Too many people in the office, too much commotion. A couple of people I'm not too crazy about.

When am I going to get anything done? If I'm housecleaning when everyone else is home and no one helps out, it's going to piss me off. If I'm home alone and I'm doing stuff, it's fine because no one is there. But if everyone else is just sitting around while I'm vacuuming or doing laundry or the multitude of other things I do during the day...it's not going to be pretty. I think they're going to hate me for a while, at least until we all get used to me being home again. It's been four years that I've been doing this.

Truthfully, I'd rather not have a job at all. That way, I could be home during the day and get all my stuff done, and then be home in the evenings too. That would be great. Oh, well there's that pesky detail of my salary. And the fact that we use the benefits from my job, because they're better than what's offered at husband's job.

Why can't someone just pay me for being a fabulous human being? That's a job, right there.

Two weeks until the big move. Sigh. I hope this isn't a disaster. Kylie will be happy...I don't know about everyone else.