Hi Friends,

Merry Orthodox Christmas to all of you:)

So the time has finally came, and I had to return to work. It was not as bad as I imagined it would be for me, my boys on the other hand were another story.

My eldest (4 yo) took it the hardest. I started working on Wednesday and he seemed to be very excited to be going to see his cousins, however, by Friday he was crying as he thought that even Matthew (my 6-month old) wouldn’t be there with him.

Both, developed a bit of separation anxiety and seemed tired and sad by the end of the week, but we managed to get through it. As a result of the separation anxiety, Alexei started acting up trying to get all of the attention when home, however a bit of time out and re-assurance that we are still here for him and love him to bits seemed to have calmed that down. Matthew, on the other hand, started being much clingier and wants to be constantly in my hands. I try to give him as many cuddles as I can but also give him some space to learn to be without me.

One good thing that came out from me returning to work and them being with a child-minder together is that their brotherly bond has intensified. Both of them cannot wait to see each other every morning, and Matthew keeps smiling at Alexei whenever he catches his eye.

Another, was that Matthew started sleeping for longer periods during the night, he now sleeps from 7 pm till 3 am and then till 6-7 am. I am going to employ the Ferber method to try to extend his sleep from 7 pm -6 am by around 8 months.

The main change for myself since going back to work is that I became super organised. There are few tools that I now use to make my life easier, which I will describe in more detail in a later blog.

I have to pack everything for both boys (such as lunch, spare clothes, clothes for tomorrow and any toys to bring with them), the night before. I also have to make sure that my bag is packed and my coffee container is ready to go the night before, i.e. just add boiling water and go.

In work, I find myself feeling restless when I have free time on my hands, as usually at home if I have 5 minutes, I do something, such as laundry, cleaning, shower, etc. People are commenting that I seem to be working all the time.. but I guess it is a new me and I just want to get everything done as fast as possible to get home to my boys.

Hope you all have a good day:)

Dublin at dusk..