First week at a glance...

Again, in a nutshell, here is a quick run-down of our first week in a new (and I use this next word very loosely) "routine."

Monday morning was exciting and I was not surprised by how easy it was to get up so early and get ready and leave on time. It felt like the morning of an early flight to somewhere fun. I took the bags and supplies to daycare, but not the baby. Jeff would take him later since he was off. I figured it would be much easier that way. They were very sweet when I got there sans baby and the director hugged me and said, "He'll get used to it. He'll do great."

I started to leave and another Mom said to me, "First day?" I wonder how she knew. "It'll get easier. We love this place. I have had three of my kids here, two since they were newborns and you will LOVE it here. Don't worry, he'll get used to it." That was so sweet and I know God placed her mini-van in front of my mini-van in the parking lot that day. [Side note: for something with the word "mini" in its name, it's rather long and somewhat difficult to park.]

I called my dear friend April on the way and blubbered about all sorts of things and she listened intently as she always does. She is so calm and soft-spoken and brings me a sense of peace when I feel frantic. She reminded me that I am not alone and wished me luck.

By the time I got to orientation I was excited, felt pretty, had it all together, was excited about my new spiral and new pen and happy to have found the parking lot on time. Then, the first speaker got up. Reverend Franklin. He started, "I am so happy God has placed you in this place today. You are here for a reason and He has great plans for you in this job and in this life." I so wanted God to show me He was with me and that I was doing the right thing, but I had no idea He'd speak so clearly. In other words, cue the waterworks. I grabbed the tissue as he went on to remind the nurses/medical providers in the room that they must never forget that "their faith in God is just as important to the healing and wholeness of their patients as any medical care they can provide." I had never been in HR in a faith-based organization and it was so comforting yet confusing at the same time.

Rev. Franklin continued, "You can convince me of a lot of things, but you will NEVER convince me that prayer doesn't work. I want you to know that our entire staff has prayed all week for each and every one of you by name." He began to call out each of our names (35 of us) with his loud Southern Methodist preacher voice. As each person walked up, he handed out his business card. I turned mine over to see "Melissa" hand-written on the back in blue permanent marker with a little cross. I just started crying at my seat and decided to quietly leave the room before people started to notice.

I ran into the Trainer, Amber, in the hallway and she saw me crying. I smiled, "First day with my baby in daycare. I know, it's silly." She said, "Every Mom in the room knows exactly how you feel. My two are in daycare and some days are really hard." She was so kind and I was a tad embarrassed knowing she was going to end up sitting two offices down from mine. "But don't worry," she added, "he'll get used to it."

I finally got myself together before the next speaker began. The 8-hour orientation went on to include a video on bedside manner which included a Mom and her newborn son in L&D, a video on medicine errors which included a Mom whose son was killed when he was given an IV with the wrong medicine, and finally, a video about a little boy with cancer. No, I am not kidding. Now, there were tons of other things in the orientation, but these were the ones that got me all emotional. I will have to write about the funny things too. Some day.

When I got home, I was exhausted. Jeff had taken Davis to school (I will join the Moms who call it that instead of daycare) around 11 and picked them both up around 4:00pm. We did dinner, bath, and bed at a rapid pace and looked at each other as we finally sat down around 9:40pm. Wow, we realized... this is our new normal.

"He'll get used to it." Everyone says that. I can't help but think, just because "he'll get used to it" doesn't mean it's good for him. Kids can "get used to" a lot of things... I decided not to think too much more about it.

I said, "I'll just have to blog about this tomorrow."

...... Okay so I guess this post turned out to be "FIRST DAY at a glance" instead.... and at like nine paragraphs I guess it was a pretty long glance.