Back to work

This has been such a rough week!! I started back to work Monday, for starters. I had been dreading that day since Brinlee was born. It came way too fast for me! I was crying Sunday at just the thought of it. Then reality hit Monday morning, and I was a mess. I cried on the way to daycare, at daycare, and then on the way to work. I knew Brinlee would be fine, I just worry. No one can take care of her like I can! I go every day at lunch to see her and take milk so she has something to eat in the afternoon (still staying a bottle or 2 ahead of her...). I usually get to feed her, and I'll sit and watch the teachers interact with the kids. That time of day is pretty crazy as it's feeding time for most of them, and the teachers do a pretty good job of managing the kiddos. But they have to juggle the kids to get it done, as it's usually when one of the teachers goes to lunch, too. At least with me feeding B, I'm helping them out and I know she's getting full attention, which makes me feel better. It took her a few days to adjust, but I think she's getting used to it now and used to the teachers. She's been all smiles the last 2 mornings I dropped her off!

The upside of daycare that we can see at home is Brinlee is sleeping through the night! The first day of daycare wore her out so much, she was absolutely exhausted. When I went at lunch, her little eyes were all red because she'd only taken a 20 minute nap that morning. She fell asleep eating! I managed to keep her up until about 8:15 or so that night, and we had to wake her up at 6:15 the next morning to eat! She ate in her sleep and was completely passed back out by 6:45. When it was time to go, I changed her diaper and put her in her carseat, both of which she slept through (very unlike her). I dropped her off, and they let her sleep in her carseat until she woke up at 8:45!! She was tired!!! Poor little thing. Tuesday and Wednesday went much of the same way, with her taking 20-40 minute naps at daycare, and then in bed by 8 or so and sleeping through the night! Brinlee finally took a good 2 hour nap on Thursday. Looks like she can sleep through anything now! If only she would sleep through the night on the weekends, too!

As far as my week, it definitely could have gone a lot better. When I was pregnant, I pushed my boss to get a temp hired with plenty of time to train her so there wouldn't be a huge mess for me when I got back. He let me have someone about 3 weeks before Brinlee was born, and I spent a ton of time making step-by-step notes on how to do my job so anyone could sit down and do it. We hired a really sweet lady who seemed competent enough to handle the workload, and like she could pick up on how to do things pretty quickly. WRONG. While I was training her, she kept taking notes in a notebook (which was great), but she wouldn't even look at the notes I made (not so great). Then she would confuse herself trying to go back through her mess of notes to figure out how to do something. That should've been my first clue. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt that she could handle it. After all, I remember what it was like when I first started and how overwhelmed I was. But I didn't have anyone training me, and I dang sure didn't have a notebook of step-by-step notes.

My first glimpse of the fact that things may not have been going so well was when my boss called me in the middle of October asking if I was still coming back, and would I consider coming back early. I got that call about every 2 weeks after that. And after this week, I see why....I can't tell you how many times I've asked myself and fellow employees "What in the world did she do all day?". I walked back into the biggest mess. I may as well have never left! She screwed up payroll almost every pay period, to the point where we almost had employees quit because of it. Our drivers are guaranteed a certain amount each week if they can't work due to weather, and there is an Excel worksheet we have to turn in to payroll showing whether or not they got the guarantee. Well, when our fleet supervisor left at the beginning of October, that worksheet was no longer done or turned in. So, I'm having to back through every timesheet since the beginning of October, figure out how many hours they worked and how much commission they earned, then determine whether or not they get the guarantee, and compare that to their paystubs to see if they got paid the guarantee!! The sad part is that's not even what she messed up...she just didn't do it. Come to find out, she never used the notes I made, would never ask for help, and would tell people she was fine when asked if she needed help or if she understood. Her last day was Wednesday, and she told me that she was almost done receiving invoices so they could be paid by corporate. I was thinking she just had a couple left to do. WRONG AGAIN. When I got to work Thursday morning, there was a stack of invoices an inch thick that hadn't been touched going back to the end of October and all of November. Seriously, WHAT DID SHE DO ALL DAY?!? I've heard that she would sit and talk with the guys for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, go outside and smoke, and repeat. I've heard that she got caught watching Twilight! I'm already having a hard time leaving my daughter at daycare each day, but now I get to come back to work and clean up the mess that was made while I was gone for 3 months....thank you for making my week suck that much more. I've heard more times and gotten more emails this week saying "I'm so glad you're back!" and "now our paychecks will be right!". I told my boss (semi-jokingly) that it makes him realize just how much I did!! I think he was the most excited I was back. At least I feel appreciated there now!

                                             Welcome back to work....