Day in the Life: Conference with cub #2

This is not a typical day in my life, but a recent, busy, and good one.
I have been at a wonderful conference this week and brought cub #2.
I love the chance for one on one time with a kid as well as the chance to parent an only. But there was the conference to attend and people with whom I wanted to connect. So attending a conference with a kid puts front and center the work/family balance challenges/guilt/dance.

So I came with my parents as well. We tag teamed the child time, had some family time, and also had good time with family friends attending the conference. And many of the attendees were mothers in medicine from my brick and mortar life.

Here was a look at yesterday:

7 AM up with the bright meeting venue sunshine

8 AM arrived at meeting hotel (we stayed in the farther flung hotel) with cub

8:15 Met parents in lobby for breakfast

9 AM I dashed off to morning sessions and cub went for a swim with grandparent

9-11 AM I felt somewhat drowned in advanced science talk about my favorite disorders. Answered many emails from other care providers about urgent patient issues - all for the same patient. Took notes on talks. Fidgeted. A lot.

11 AM bolted from the session to meet cub by the pool.

11-11:45 felt usual pull about being with cub or having nice connecting conversation with my mother. Chose conversation with mother while a great female colleague swam laps with my cub and discussed the meeting findings with her.

11:45 Family reconvened with grandfather for lunch

1-3 Another session

3 PM Grandparents left to return home. I brought cub with me fortified with a laptop and homework to do. Momentary concern about professional impact of having cub with me in session. Momentary concern quickly dispelled with thought that mom has to learn and kid has to do homework. Mental contortion about which session to attend, learn about something new or learn more deeply about something more familiar. Went with learning more about something familiar.

3-5:45 Superb session in which I learned a lot more about a familiar topic. Everyone stayed over to hear the questions and answers and debate friendly differences. Cub finished writing assignment and watched an episode of favorite show on iTunes with earbuds. Only comment made was, "What a great idea. She is so lucky to learn about what mommy does for work."

6-7:30 Poster session with cub. Lots of other kids there for free cheese and crackers, ginger ale, and wine. Ran into favorite old friend and colleague there with her spouse, two little ones, and grandparents. I felt happy to have an older cub who whines instead of tugging on my skirt and can get more cheese on her own without an escort. After the posters, cub and I spent time with my friend and her family out on the porch with her crawling one crawling all over. My cub played cards with her pre-schooler, and she and I shared true confessions about the challenges of early parenting and work joys and balancing. I felt like I gave her the gift of knowing that someone else has been there too and come out the other end smiling.

7:30 cub and I returned to our room. Ate chicken nuggets, shrimp cocktail, and cookies. Watched a Disney movie while snuggled in bed together.

9 PM Cub and I fell asleep in bed together.

9 AM We woke up, packed, and dashed to the airport.

-Tigermom