Home, home at last!

I come home today! I'm excited. It sounds like Murray, Natalie, Sam and Lelia have done just fine without me - better, in fact, than I've done without them. Murray took half days that unfortunately have been busy and longer than half (more like full days) and Lelia has been amazing (no surprise there!). Natty got a cough so only went to school Monday and Tuesday.

But Aunty Lelia has taken it all in stride. She sounds good whenever I talk to her - relaxed, having fun, etc. I'm in awe. Now I'm even more jealous of Teal because I've seen first hand what a child whisperer Lelia is. It was a hard decision to ask Lelia to stay home with both kids instead of coming with me and Sam, leaving Natty at home. And when I first got here and knew that I could have made it work to have Sam here I was really kicking myself for not bringing him. With her cold and his long work days though, I'm so glad she was home to help Murray out with Natty.

They've gone to Victoria's Station a few times, ballet class, "and all the things we like to do" as Natty used to say. Natty's cough hasn't been too bad, I hear. One parenting trap I fell into was letting her watch a movie in bed when she was sick as a 2 yr old. She has always remembered that. And if I hint she might be sick (and she extends it to owies or anything she can think of) she asks of she could watch a movie in bed! I bet that's been a request for Aunty.

Natty is a big nesting person anyway. A common request is, "Come, look at the nest I made." Or she'll want me to put a blanket over her to snuggle down into when she's on the couch. I wonder what that means career-wise. Bed designer?

This week has given me lots to think about and some skills for the distance learning. But it's been a lot of fluff too. It has been reminiscent of camp as a kid. Since I'm such a task-oriented person, and my task is getting my MSN without killing my family, it's been frustrating to do the "community building" activities when I just want to get the work done and get back to them. But I've met some wonderful people I'll be going to school with and the instructors are very encouraging, which I need. It is a big commitment that I am not sure we (me, Murray and the kids) are ready to undergo right now, quite honestly. But I want to go for it so I'm on my way. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!