Well, at the beginning of this week, I thought Zak had completely changed his demeanor, and that maybe I was hitting a new stage of "terrible fours." Whenever we have a couple of tough days, I start thinking, wow, maybe I've spoiled him or done something wrong. But then I remembered how busy the last week was at the tennis tournament, and that he'd not gotten enough sleep at all...and I felt a little better. By Friday we were back to normal and I had my normally awesome son back :-)
On Wednesday, he was doing strange things like...as I was unloading the car, I put our backpack down on the ground to get some other things out. I put it down apparently right where he wanted to walk. He walked right up to the backpack and started crying "Why did you put the backpack here? I need to walk here and I can't!" I told him, "Zak, go around the backpack, there is plenty of room...I'll pick it up in a minute." But he continued to cry "No, I want to go through it! Why did you block me!" And he pushed through the backpack.
He also had gotten pretty bossy. I turned right on a red light, and he shouted out "Noooo!!!! Why did you go!?!?! It was RED!!!!! STOPP!!!"
Everything was just a bit more dramatic than it needed to be. But, as I said, by Friday, he was back to his wonderful self, I think because we had gotten back into some semblance of a normal schedule. On Friday we did a 3 hour bike/playground trip with Rowan and Dana. On the way to get them, Zak and I sang songs on the bike. Zak still loves that "You are my sunshine" song, and then he tells me that he's my sunshine. Then he also tells me that I'm HIS sunshine. Which makes me feel good. Then he says "and Tato's our coconut!" :-) Makes me laugh!
His new thing is to ask me "What's the problem?" If I say, "Oh shoot" because I hit a traffic jam, or I forgot to buy milk, or something...he comes running over "What? What's the problem here?"
Friday evening I was getting ready to go out for birthday drinks with friends, and I put on an outfit...Zak told me, "Mama, I like black, but that's not a good outfit for you at all." Then he proceeded to find another, purple outfit that he liked better. Wow! I wore the one he picked out, because it was more comfortable anyway :-)
Work is becoming a bit more challenging. We have quite a bit of business travel planned, which basically makes it impossible to do 3 days. The week of the travel obviously doesn't make sense...and then there is no possibility to catch it up because you already get way too far behind when you travel anyway. My work plan continues to "creep" up...and its slowly becoming much more than I can manage in my 3 days. I'm seriously considering going up to 4 days a week. Not only because of work, because I think I could force the issue if I really wanted to...but because I think Zak would probably do better going that one extra day to pre-school, and I feel like we've got such a great base set now. I'm going to think about it through September and then decide.
By the way, last week at work was great. As always, ups and downs...but all in all, I'm still on the right track and adding value :-)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
A Very Busy Week
This week has been probably a little too hectic. The ATP is here, and we've become friends with some of the players, so we get to see the "backstage" of tennis.
We've been there late all week (around 11:00ish)...so poor Zak is exhausted. He wanted to go to King's Island on Wednesday, but I felt he needed to just relax and catch up on some sleep. I offered him a bike ride instead, but he didn't want it. We just kind of hung around all day, then went to the tourney around 4. I planned to come back around 8, but just when we were about to leave, the Polish doubles guys started to play, so we all went over to watch. Of course, we said just for the first set, but then for the second as well, and then for congrats after, etc. etc. So again, 11:00 to get home. Zak did another photo shoot this year with the Polish newspaper columnist from Chicago...he always seems to find Zak in his Polska shirt. If I actually see the publication, I'll make sure to put the link here.
Thursday Zak was sad that Marta had left us, but happy enough that Maciek, Ala and Klaudia came over for dinner and stayed the night. But this morning, when we told him they were all leaving today, he literally threw himself on the ground and said "No! I want some friends to stay with us right now!" I guess he's bored with just Mommy and Tato now.
Also, because we needed to use his room last night, we had him sleep with Kuba and I. Every time we do that, it's a fight the next night to get him back to his room. A few months ago he proclaimed that only little girls needed to sleep in their own beds, little boys need to sleep with their parents. I have no idea where that one came from. Anyway, tonight he informed me that he couldn't sleep in his room because it doesn't have a bathroom in it. So now he needs an "en-suite bathroom!" Anyway, he's asleep now in his own bedroom again, and hopefully will make it to the bathroom literally one step from his bedroom if needed :-)
Today (Friday) - we also took it easy since we were up again last night to midnight hanging out with the crew. I bought a new board game for us to play (Richard Scarry's "I can see it") - another great game. We had fun playing it twice, then got into a fight over who should go first. I wanted to go first, Zak said no, and when I said that was only fair since he went first the last two times, he said he didn't want to play. So we didn't. I didn't want to give into him. I think I'm a little on the tired side myself.
Kuba's aunt passed away on Wednesday. She's been fighting cancer for about 10 years, and it got really bad in the last couple of weeks. I can't do justice to the stress that has put Kuba under, and the arranging of when he should go to Poland, if we should all go, etc. Since Kuba's grandfather passed away just a few weeks ago, it's definitely a trying time for him and his family, which is a very small family anyway. Needless to say, it makes you appreciate what you have.
Anyway, the nice part of this week is that when things are this busy, having those extra two days to recuperate with Zak, or pitch in more to help Kuba, are very nice.
Work was very productive this week too. Ended on a very high note. Monday will be a critical day for me to know how I've really been doing over the past couple of months. I'll let you know how that goes next week :-)
We've been there late all week (around 11:00ish)...so poor Zak is exhausted. He wanted to go to King's Island on Wednesday, but I felt he needed to just relax and catch up on some sleep. I offered him a bike ride instead, but he didn't want it. We just kind of hung around all day, then went to the tourney around 4. I planned to come back around 8, but just when we were about to leave, the Polish doubles guys started to play, so we all went over to watch. Of course, we said just for the first set, but then for the second as well, and then for congrats after, etc. etc. So again, 11:00 to get home. Zak did another photo shoot this year with the Polish newspaper columnist from Chicago...he always seems to find Zak in his Polska shirt. If I actually see the publication, I'll make sure to put the link here.
Thursday Zak was sad that Marta had left us, but happy enough that Maciek, Ala and Klaudia came over for dinner and stayed the night. But this morning, when we told him they were all leaving today, he literally threw himself on the ground and said "No! I want some friends to stay with us right now!" I guess he's bored with just Mommy and Tato now.
Also, because we needed to use his room last night, we had him sleep with Kuba and I. Every time we do that, it's a fight the next night to get him back to his room. A few months ago he proclaimed that only little girls needed to sleep in their own beds, little boys need to sleep with their parents. I have no idea where that one came from. Anyway, tonight he informed me that he couldn't sleep in his room because it doesn't have a bathroom in it. So now he needs an "en-suite bathroom!" Anyway, he's asleep now in his own bedroom again, and hopefully will make it to the bathroom literally one step from his bedroom if needed :-)
Today (Friday) - we also took it easy since we were up again last night to midnight hanging out with the crew. I bought a new board game for us to play (Richard Scarry's "I can see it") - another great game. We had fun playing it twice, then got into a fight over who should go first. I wanted to go first, Zak said no, and when I said that was only fair since he went first the last two times, he said he didn't want to play. So we didn't. I didn't want to give into him. I think I'm a little on the tired side myself.
Kuba's aunt passed away on Wednesday. She's been fighting cancer for about 10 years, and it got really bad in the last couple of weeks. I can't do justice to the stress that has put Kuba under, and the arranging of when he should go to Poland, if we should all go, etc. Since Kuba's grandfather passed away just a few weeks ago, it's definitely a trying time for him and his family, which is a very small family anyway. Needless to say, it makes you appreciate what you have.
Anyway, the nice part of this week is that when things are this busy, having those extra two days to recuperate with Zak, or pitch in more to help Kuba, are very nice.
Work was very productive this week too. Ended on a very high note. Monday will be a critical day for me to know how I've really been doing over the past couple of months. I'll let you know how that goes next week :-)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
the Renewal
Ok, well, I've been trying to determine what to do with this blog. I made it for a year, which was longer than I thought I would :-) But then abruptly stopped. I quit blogging because of what I'll call "the incident" at work. When the "incident" happened, I knew I could not blog about it. It was one of those times where I needed to wait a week or two for my head to clear before I did anything, lest I act (or write) irrationally.
In the end, I decided that no, I couldn't write honestly about the incident, which by the way, had nothing to do with my working part time, but everything to do with the colossal amount of stress that executives get put under (or put themselves under?). And so then I started questioning the whole purpose of my blog. I said in the beginning, I would write honestly about what it is like to work part time as an executive at a large company...and suddenly realized that when it came down to it, I wasn't able to be completely honest. So, am I being fake by continuing to blog under such a pretense?
On the other hand, I've had SO MANY people ask me why I've quit blogging. I think people appreciated it for several reasons, but one recurring one was that it reminded them to appreciate the little, but important things. So even if they aren't blogging, or working part time...some of the little things I recorded about Zak helped them remember not to take their own little life treasures for granted.
So, I've made peace with the fact that I probably won't be completely honest about some of the trials and tribulations at work (although I will try to be as honest as possible)...and so I will change the focus of the blog to be about appreciating the journey...which is what I'm trying to do. Appreciating the journey, in a responsible way :-)
I really missed blogging. It takes effort, but on the other hand, it made me really watch throughout the day for those little nuggets that I could share. So, let's try again :-)
Zak has come a long way in the last few months. He's 4 and so clearly a little boy now. If there is a group of kids between 3 and 6...he hangs with the older kids. He does simple math, and loves to play a subtraction board game I bought for us to play together. On the other hand, I can't get him to spend any time on forming words out of letters, or writing for that matter. So it looks like Math is his clear preference.
I started this "star" system with him, which has had so many unbelievable benefits. I was trying to think of an allowance system, but something not quite as complex because I think he's too young to understand fully money and savings. So we came up with "10 stars" gets him pretty much a toy of his choice. He's got it down and told me the other day that he has 5 stars, 2 5s makes 10, so he needs 5 more stars for "Dash" the tank engine (which he is now back into after several months of cars). I was really, really surprised that he basically figured out 2 sets of 5 = 10! He also negotiates with us all the time (Zak, if you eat some peas, I'll give you a star....hmmm, how about 3 stars?) If he's getting close to the target, he gets really motivated....earlier this week, he was at 7 stars and asked if we had any laundry to do so he could get a star. He then asked if we had any carrots to eat so he could get another star :-)
He's become very aware of his age, and that he's taller than some kids, but shorter than others. He tells anyone who will listen that he was 3, but now he's 4...and now he's tall enough to ride the colorful slide at the King's Island water park. Today he told me "One day, I'll be as tall as Chloe, and then I'll be able to ride all the rides at King's Island" :-) The King's Island height limits have really made an impression on him :-)
Another big impression, his best friend at school, Aiden, broke his arm, so has had a cast for the last month or so. Zak fell the other day, hurt his arm (a little only), ran over to me, and asked me to kiss it quick so it won't be broken. I did so, and luckily, it was just in time to prevent him needing a cast :-)
Today was Chloe's birthday, and she had her party at the Blue Ash Rec Center. Zak and Rowan were playing in one of the playgrounds where we could see them from the picnic shelter. Matt and I were talking about how nice it is that they are old enough to play without us having to watch every minute. About 5 minutes later, we realized there were still a lot of kids at that playground, but no Rowan or Zak. We started to walk over, thinking they were probably in the slide or something....started walking a bit faster when kids were coming out of the slide...but no Rowan or Zak. So Matt, Dana and I start running, realizing that Zak probably convinced Rowan to go to another part of the park. Matt found them first...they came running when they saw him...Zak said, "We were just checking out the river." oo la la. I trusted Zak again a little later...he gave me a high five, and promised he would come and tell me if he wanted to leave the playground within our sight. He kept his promise this time.
Work is going really well right now. The atmosphere is high stress, but manageable. I have a pretty strong team again, and they really step up on the days I'm not there. I think it's pretty seamless for most people. I try to look at it this way...if I had the 2 more days, sure I'd get more done, but I'd also probably spin a bit more as well. I literally tell myself sometimes...you don't have time to deal with that, make a decision and go. And that's what I do :-)
I can't believe next year at this time I'll be sending Zak off to kindergarten, celebrating my 40th birthday, and probably upping my work days (maybe I'll ease back into 4 days a week to start :-))...I have a good life. The best of a lot of worlds.
In the end, I decided that no, I couldn't write honestly about the incident, which by the way, had nothing to do with my working part time, but everything to do with the colossal amount of stress that executives get put under (or put themselves under?). And so then I started questioning the whole purpose of my blog. I said in the beginning, I would write honestly about what it is like to work part time as an executive at a large company...and suddenly realized that when it came down to it, I wasn't able to be completely honest. So, am I being fake by continuing to blog under such a pretense?
On the other hand, I've had SO MANY people ask me why I've quit blogging. I think people appreciated it for several reasons, but one recurring one was that it reminded them to appreciate the little, but important things. So even if they aren't blogging, or working part time...some of the little things I recorded about Zak helped them remember not to take their own little life treasures for granted.
So, I've made peace with the fact that I probably won't be completely honest about some of the trials and tribulations at work (although I will try to be as honest as possible)...and so I will change the focus of the blog to be about appreciating the journey...which is what I'm trying to do. Appreciating the journey, in a responsible way :-)
I really missed blogging. It takes effort, but on the other hand, it made me really watch throughout the day for those little nuggets that I could share. So, let's try again :-)
Zak has come a long way in the last few months. He's 4 and so clearly a little boy now. If there is a group of kids between 3 and 6...he hangs with the older kids. He does simple math, and loves to play a subtraction board game I bought for us to play together. On the other hand, I can't get him to spend any time on forming words out of letters, or writing for that matter. So it looks like Math is his clear preference.
I started this "star" system with him, which has had so many unbelievable benefits. I was trying to think of an allowance system, but something not quite as complex because I think he's too young to understand fully money and savings. So we came up with "10 stars" gets him pretty much a toy of his choice. He's got it down and told me the other day that he has 5 stars, 2 5s makes 10, so he needs 5 more stars for "Dash" the tank engine (which he is now back into after several months of cars). I was really, really surprised that he basically figured out 2 sets of 5 = 10! He also negotiates with us all the time (Zak, if you eat some peas, I'll give you a star....hmmm, how about 3 stars?) If he's getting close to the target, he gets really motivated....earlier this week, he was at 7 stars and asked if we had any laundry to do so he could get a star. He then asked if we had any carrots to eat so he could get another star :-)
He's become very aware of his age, and that he's taller than some kids, but shorter than others. He tells anyone who will listen that he was 3, but now he's 4...and now he's tall enough to ride the colorful slide at the King's Island water park. Today he told me "One day, I'll be as tall as Chloe, and then I'll be able to ride all the rides at King's Island" :-) The King's Island height limits have really made an impression on him :-)
Another big impression, his best friend at school, Aiden, broke his arm, so has had a cast for the last month or so. Zak fell the other day, hurt his arm (a little only), ran over to me, and asked me to kiss it quick so it won't be broken. I did so, and luckily, it was just in time to prevent him needing a cast :-)
Today was Chloe's birthday, and she had her party at the Blue Ash Rec Center. Zak and Rowan were playing in one of the playgrounds where we could see them from the picnic shelter. Matt and I were talking about how nice it is that they are old enough to play without us having to watch every minute. About 5 minutes later, we realized there were still a lot of kids at that playground, but no Rowan or Zak. We started to walk over, thinking they were probably in the slide or something....started walking a bit faster when kids were coming out of the slide...but no Rowan or Zak. So Matt, Dana and I start running, realizing that Zak probably convinced Rowan to go to another part of the park. Matt found them first...they came running when they saw him...Zak said, "We were just checking out the river." oo la la. I trusted Zak again a little later...he gave me a high five, and promised he would come and tell me if he wanted to leave the playground within our sight. He kept his promise this time.
Work is going really well right now. The atmosphere is high stress, but manageable. I have a pretty strong team again, and they really step up on the days I'm not there. I think it's pretty seamless for most people. I try to look at it this way...if I had the 2 more days, sure I'd get more done, but I'd also probably spin a bit more as well. I literally tell myself sometimes...you don't have time to deal with that, make a decision and go. And that's what I do :-)
I can't believe next year at this time I'll be sending Zak off to kindergarten, celebrating my 40th birthday, and probably upping my work days (maybe I'll ease back into 4 days a week to start :-))...I have a good life. The best of a lot of worlds.
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