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I make it a point to be exceptionally nice to taxi drivers and random people in the elevator in my office building. Also the people in my IT department, who have a really crappy job (no one's computer crashes when they are just fooling around; it's always when you were just about to send out that time critical thing). And I bite my tongue in the up elevator every time I am tempted to ask, "Really? Floor 2???"
"HOW do you do this???"
Step by step. Day by day. A lot of tears. A LOT of tears.
You talk to DH about family centered activities for the weekends when you can do them. You outsource everything while wondering what is going to happen when your kids go to college and don't know how to do laundry (and also laugh at their shock that you even know how to use the washing machine when you run an emergency weekend load).
You spend every second with the baby you can, and then cuss yourself in the car the whole way to work with how you told your toddler you could NOT do the 25th hug because you could not miss your conference call.
You get a teary and sobbing phone call from your 3 year old begging you to come home at 6 pm but you can't. The only thing you can think of is you send a fax home with a cartoon picture of yourself thinking of your child and draw lots of hearts and a big "Mommy loves you". You tearfully relate this story to your girlfriends over a glass of wine as a prime example of why you suck as a mom, and they look at you with tears in THEIR eyes and say, actually, they think it was brilliant.
You stop being so hard on yourself, but you still cry every now and then (at least up to six years old and still counting). And you play the powerball. A lot.
That's how I've done it anyway. Good luck OP.
Step by step. Day by day. A lot of tears. A LOT of tears.
You talk to DH about family centered activities for the weekends when you can do them. You outsource everything while wondering what is going to happen when your kids go to college and don't know how to do laundry (and also laugh at their shock that you even know how to use the washing machine when you run an emergency weekend load).
You spend every second with the baby you can, and then cuss yourself in the car the whole way to work with how you told your toddler you could NOT do the 25th hug because you could not miss your conference call.
You get a teary and sobbing phone call from your 3 year old begging you to come home at 6 pm but you can't. The only thing you can think of is you send a fax home with a cartoon picture of yourself thinking of your child and draw lots of hearts and a big "Mommy loves you". You tearfully relate this story to your girlfriends over a glass of wine as a prime example of why you suck as a mom, and they look at you with tears in THEIR eyes and say, actually, they think it was brilliant.
You stop being so hard on yourself, but you still cry every now and then (at least up to six years old and still counting). And you play the powerball. A lot.
That's how I've done it anyway. Good luck OP.
Do you think you could find a nanny share? That might be a way to cut the expense but keeep your nanny. Although it won't be the same thing as having your person exclusively, it should still be much more convenient than the day care route. Full disclaimer: I've never done a share, although I fantasize all the time about a neighbor asking us to share our nanny with them.
Oh, honey. If we were having a financial disasters contest, I am quite sure I would beat you. The prescription for solving these things, though, is the same, for the most part. Get out of as much debt as you can (meaning, yes, if you get a bonus this year, think about taking out the car loan). Cut expenses (push hair cuts back a week; are you eating the groceries or throwing half of them out like we do; can you call up your cable guy and get a better deal, etc.) I also noticed you are doing 529 saving (as do we). If you can get yourself to really look at that issue, some experts recommend saving for yourself first even over college. I just, from a mom hormone thing, can't even look at that, so our retirement savings takes the hit. Little cuts in expenses, though, do add up, and every little bit helps.
We have just come out of a cycle where everything seemed like it would go up and up and up forever, including our incomes. The wake up call here was that old adage about saving for a rainy day is true. Some people knew that; many (including me) did not fully take it on board. Hopefully you are young and have plenty of time to make adjustments that are appropriate. I am told I am still young enough, although, in my 40s, I don't feel so young. Good luck OP.
We have just come out of a cycle where everything seemed like it would go up and up and up forever, including our incomes. The wake up call here was that old adage about saving for a rainy day is true. Some people knew that; many (including me) did not fully take it on board. Hopefully you are young and have plenty of time to make adjustments that are appropriate. I am told I am still young enough, although, in my 40s, I don't feel so young. Good luck OP.