The Secret Keeper

As I mentioned previously, A has taken on being an ALPA (union) rep for his local base. It's a cool volunteer position that also affords him the opportunity to avoid the rumor mill and be one of the first to get the truth about what's going on with the company. It also keeps him updated on many of the misbehaviors of his coworkers that eventually need mediating.

The downside? He has to keep all this juicy info to himself. He had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and is prohibited from owning company stock. He has to be careful in his discussions to avoid any whiff of insider trading. Now, this is HARD for A. He's not the best at keeping surprises and secrets. At least from me. But he manages. The other downside? He gets calls and emails ALL the time. And he feels compelled to answer every incoming call as best he can. Even if it interrupts family time or we are all in the van waiting for him. I think because he's been at home on leave for basically his entire term so far he's a) trying to prove himself, and b) forgets that there will be times that he can't answer his phone- like when he's flying, and sometimes the caller will just have to wait. Its a work in progress to work this new role into our family life.

I'm now in my last week of maternity leave and will return to work next week. I'm looking forward to it because honestly my (just turned) two year old drives me nuts. He's constantly into stuff and it's exhausting to constantly follow him and clean up his messes all day. And then the seven year old comes home from school and they just rile each other up until bedtime. Since I knew I'd only be home for 12 weeks, all of it with A home with me, I never bothered to look into community activities to keep us occupied. Probably this would have helped my mental status... This week A is gone to Houston Monday through Friday at a big union meeting. No matter how much he denies it, I KNOW he is enjoying a quiet hotel room, a big bed to himself, and restaurant meals where he doesn't have to cut anyone else's food, play 100 games of tic-tac-toe, or remember to bring diapers, wipes and sippy cups. This is sort of my trial run in getting up and everyone out of the house in the morning and getting dinner and the evening chores done alone. It's a little easier since I'm home all day, but it's good practice. A will remain on leave for a few more weeks- thanks to a combo of vacation time and generous paternity leave he is actually off longer than I am. He heads back to recurrent training for the second half of November and then has vacation again in December for Christmas. At least there is a lot of "easing in" into this three kids at home business!