Back to School

Today is my last day of summer, and thus, my last day of maternity leave as well.  Tomorrow, I go back to work and the kids go back to daycare.

On the one hand, I'm totally sad that my break is over and that it's back to the grindstone:

• It'll be tough leaving the kidlets -- Norah is returning to school in a new classroom with a new teacher and Caleb is just starting.  It doesn't matter that I have 2 years' past experience with leaving Norah, it's still tough to part from her, and Caleb has never been left with anyone but family, so it'll be extra hard leaving him for the first time.
• I will miss them both.
• Back to work means back to WORK.  Classes to teach, office hours to hold, meetings to attend, committees to sit on, papers to read.  My god, the papers to read! 
• My daily schedule will be a bit busier, especially the two nights a week that I have night class, so fitting running in is gonna be even harder, and probably means o'dark thirty for most runs.  Blech.
• This may sound trivial, but it gets harder to breastfeed once you return to work -- I can still nurse Caleb the first half of the day, and in the evening.  But, I'll have to pump at work.  And even though I have an office where I can have privacy, it still feels weird to have my boobs out at work.  That, and hauling that damn pump back and forth each day is a pain. 
• I'm gonna have to try and fit myself back into my pre-preggo work clothes.  Haven't even tried on stuff to see what fits and what doesn't.  I'm bracing myself for a demoralizing evening tonight with that task!

But despite that rather short list of negatives, I'm excited to be starting back to work:

• I can go to the bathroom by myself, and eat my lunch in peace (while surfing the interweb uninterrupted!).
• I also get to drive half the way there and the full way home...by myself!  Ahhh, the silence!  Or, all the NPR I can fill my nerdy little ears with!  I don't have to sing along with Elmo and I don't have to answer a million "Why?s"
• I get to return to doing "adult" work!  And, I enjoy my job: I like the material I teach, I like my students, and I like my colleagues.  I especially like the fall term; for some reason, "back to school" time is one of my favorite times of year.
• I think it's good to miss the kidlets some.  It would be really tough to be gone from them all day, but my schedule allows me to be home with them all morning, and we don't go to school until mid-day, so I get a nice balance of time at home and time at work.  And, the time apart is nice -- it helps me appreciate the time with them more, I think.  Plus, I know they're in good care.  That helps.
• Fridays!  I don't teach on Fridays, but I still take the kids to daycare in the afternoon.  I already have a mental list of all the things I'll be able to get done on Friday afternoons!  Oh yeah, those 4 and 1/2 hours each week are awesome, and I can't wait for the return of Fridays!

So, yes, a mixture of emotions as I anticipate this transition: Some things are gonna be tougher, but on the whole, I think I'm looking forward to returning to work. 

And come, next May, I'm sure I'll be looking forward to my summer at home with the kids!