Partner going back to work tomorrow

[als2912]

My partner goes back to work tomorrow after having a lovely 3 weeks paternity with me and our first baby - feeling slightly nervous that the days and nights are going to feel very long as I will be stuck at home because of this lockdown!

Also might sound silly but I feel like I want him to be able to come home from work and not have to cook dinner everyday and the house feel relatively tidy as he's had to work while I've just been at home 🙈 (he works 2pm to 9-10pm)

Sorry not much point to the post just needed to vent as trying not to worry too much about it all!

Hey, I know exactly how you feel. I was the same. I wanted to keep the house clean & tidy, have dinner on the table and keep on top of the washing. I stressed myself silly trying to. Newborns take up a lot of time. My 14 week old has only started playing on his gym, with other toys for 10min stretches to give me a chance to get a bite to eat. My advice would be to sleep/eat/pee while baby sleeps. Your partner can half the chores with you during times you're both home.

I mostly have had the house fairly tidy and meals cooked for my partner to come back to, because he’s been out for a long day at work & I’ve been just at home over my SAHM career, BUT only when it feels do-able. I have 3 kids & there have absolutely been times when me sitting down for a rest has been more important than dashing around getting dinner ready or picking up toys. In my experience it gets easier to pick up more of the domestic load as baby naps more reliably - so while I sympathise with your goal I think it’s ambitious right now. Take it easy & keep yourself sane...

@aimzxd @zelbazinnamon thank you both, I'm very lucky at the moment in the sense that she has been extremely chilled since day 1 and everyday is starting to feel a bit more "normal" for us so trying not to feel too stressed as I wouldn't want her to pick up on it 😊 it's just nice to know that there's other people who know how you feel and have been there x

I would just remember that doing that will come in time; you’ll risk making yourself ill if you expect too much of yourself and in all honesty why should he get to come home and not do those things when you have a full time job looking after your baby

You'll be fine. It will be easier than you think. Prior to lockdown (DH is wfh now) I was at home with three under five, including a 4 month old, and still kept the house relatively tidy and did the cooking and washing during the day. I'm used to it though, obviously it's been nearly five years since my oldest was a newborn so I'm in a good routine now.

You will get into the swing of it, yes newborns can be time consuming but they also sleep loads and you can get a lot done while they nap. A sling is your best friend for this, my baby will sleep
In that and I can crack on with other stuff.

As I say, it will be easier than you think. But it will also be a fuck tonne more boring than you think, so don't feel bad if you watch box sets or listen to audiobooks to get you through the day.