The
Matthew you're looking after may not be the Matthew we know
Monday 7 August 2000
It's slowly dawning on us that we have two sons.
One is the Matthew we know. The one who's favourite word is “NO!”, said in oh-so-many different ways. The one who will only eat certain things, but keeps changing what those things are from day to day, just to keep us guessing. The one who's first words on returning to the house are, “Watch TV Daddy, watch TV!” The one who hates getting his nappy changed, yelling, “My botty, my botty” at us as we clean him up.
The other son, as Debbie discovered today when picking him up from the caregiver, is a totally different Matthew. Debbie asked if he's been eating up all his lunch we pack from him. “Oh yes, he's the best eater I've ever had, he eats up everything!” Debbie asked how he's been today. “He's been in such a good mood today, laughing and talking all day, he's such a happy boy!” Debbie wondered at the stillness with which he laid as the caregiver changed his nappy. “Isn't he great? He just lies still like that for me the whole time!”
Debbie wondered just how our two sons manage to swap places on the drive to and from the caregiver's house.
Ummmmmm, I feel like I should write this part in small letters cos I don't want to jinx anything, but I've kinda been offered a full-time job at the place I've been contracting. It seems they've got a lot of work coming up in the next few months, and they like what they've seen of me, and have offered me work until the end of the year with a likely extension assuming things work out. They need to come back to me with a formal offer, including money and conditions, and I need to work out with Debbie what we're going to do with Matthew (both of him!), but in principle I've said I'd love to work full-time.
And, you know, I would. It'll be hard giving up my two Daddy days a week with Matthew, but I've had the privilege of looking after him like that for over a year now, and the opportunity to work and learn in this area is one I want to grab at. So far it's seemed a good environment to work in and I'm enjoying doing the work they've given me. They seem pretty relaxed about me keeping my company going in a small-scale way, and that would suit me as well.
So, fingers crossed. I'm waiting for this bubble to burst, but it hasn't yet, and the weather is still wonderfully calm and sunny.