A Special Treat

It's been about a month, and the boys have transitioned into their new day-care seamlessly.  After the first day, Colin had already made a new best-friend named Patrick, Jack started walking, and I was finally starting to feel like I was getting a handle on this whole work-life balance thing.

We leave for school an hour later and I pick them up an hour earlier - and it's making a world of difference. It's a 15 minute drive from our house, and instead of battling stop and go traffic, I-90, and the elements - we have a straight shot down Lake Road.  Watching the sun rise/set over the lake is so much more calming (not to mention beautiful) than weaving in and out of highway traffic.

Photo credit to Lindsey Close

We've got the new routine down.  Jack goes to the "yellow room" first, then Colin and I head to the diner (our company cafeteria).  He gets a cup of fruit punch (with ice, and a straw) and we head back to the "red room".  A quick hug, a kiss, another hug, a quick look at the pet tadpoles ( or "tacos" as Colin calls them), and I'm out the door to walk across the street to my building.  Thirty-five minutes door to door.  Some mornings I'd spend that much time driving around looking for a parking spot.

My new employer (the 18th best place to work in the US according to a recent national publication) loves "perks".  And there are a lot of them.  In the main building, there are two slides for employees to get from the 2nd floor to the 1st, free fountain pop, $10 haircuts, massages, it really goes on and on.

Colin inspecting the "really really big slide"

They also have M&M dispensers - everywhere. 

If you're on a diet, or have no willpower, this is not the place to work. The first few days I picked up Colin from school, I grabbed a cup on my way out the door, filled it with M&M's and gave it to him as a "special treat" for the drive home. 

If you know anything about toddlers, they never forget. I repeat.  They never forget. 

And now, the second he hops into his car seat he smiles, holds out his hand, and says; "I want a special treat.....PLEEEEEASE!"

At least he says please, right?

Each morning, I pack a\up a "special treat" for the drive home, and both boys get so excited to see what the days "treat" entails. Cookies, goldfish, fruit snacks - you name it.  Strawberries with Hershey kisses, marshmallows, oreos. 

I've learned which are better snacks than others... For example, the oreos were a disaster and Jack almost ruined a pair of sneakers because he got so much of the icing smashed into the Velcro of his shoes.

Don't worry - I haven't been left out.  Seems like both boys have a little performance anxiety in the bathroom department at their new school.  So each and every night, I get a "special treat" of my own - two plump, Pampers, filled with the brim with....well, you get the point.