rudderless

Back to Work

So I’ve gone back to work.
Not really, but a few months ago we started organizing our week to include a couple of friends coming in to babysit for a few hours, one or two days a week so that we could work on boat stuff together. Before babies, our life together was a bit defined by our boatwork. Each of our weekends was a different task- buying, cutting, installing plywood for the nav station; painting the topsides; installing the radar tower. We spent every weekend leading up to Sophie’s birth working on our steel boat, cleaning up, hatching plans. Once she was born, everything changed. John has essentially flown solo on the new boat until very recently. Being back aboard and seeing it progress week-to-week feels so familiar, and so good.

It also does a mama good to make a quick getaway. It recharges the batteries and makes my world feel just a tiny bit bigger than the limits of our neighborhood. It took me a long time to be able to let go and accept the help (and I’m sure I’m not the only one in that situation). The girls enjoy being with other people, having new adventures. John and I have never been “going out” people. We don’t need a restaurant, or even a drink, to get back to feeling like a couple. Just a wrench or two, maybe some epoxy paint, gasket material. We’re all set.