Silas Jones: There's a New Sheriff in Town

Monday, April 27, 2009

There's a New Sheriff in Town

Today marks the first day that I (Matt) stayed home to care for Silas. Thanks to an extraordinarily generous parental leave policy, I will be spending the next 18 weeks -- now through the end of August -- at home each day to be with him, handling the naps, mealtimes, diapers, and strolls. You will all be relieved to hear that Taylor will maintain principal blog-authoring duties, but from time to time I will take advantage of the flexibility of my new day job by catching you up on Silas' activities.

After Day One, my conclusion is this: Babies. Are. Hard. It may take a few years to get the hang of this child-rearing thing.

As a lawyer at a big firm, I am accustomed to billing to clients in six-minute increments (tenths of an hour). For the next four months, I will have a single client who will not demand such detailed recordkeeping. But it's tough to break old habits, so here is a bill reflecting some of what Silas and I did today:

0.2 -- Negotiate terms of napping arrangement with client
0.2 -- Teleconference with T. Jones re response to crying
0.3 -- Review and analyze contents of excrement collection garment
0.4 -- Revise terms of napping arrangement with client
0.6 -- Confer with client re The Very Hungry Caterpillar
0.5 -- Review materials produced by T. Jones; distribute same to client
1.1 -- Revise terms of napping arrangement with client
0.3 -- Advise client re desirability of burping
0.2 -- Review and analyze contents of excrement collection garment
0.4 -- Review documents re dinosaurs with client; remove documents from client's mouth
1.3 -- Finalize terms of napping arrangement with client

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Beyond this major change, Silas' recent adventures have included a trip to Great Falls, Virginia for a hike and a cook-out with friends on the first hot weekend of the year.