Frustrated and Frazzled!

M will be 10 months old in just a few days, which means I really need to think about care for him when I go back to work. It also means I need to establish my start date for April.

When I was pregnant, I never really set a last day for work. I felt great and was determined to work up to my due date or whenever baby came. Well, M came 2 weeks early and I basically called in on the morning of Thursday, April 9th with an "um... not coming in today because my water just broke" and thus started my maternity leave. I had decided with my HR department to use up remaining vacation days before my actual leave started. This brought me to the 24th of April, which thrilled me because it meant I'd be home for a couple weeks after M's 1st birthday.

Fast forward to this week when I got in touch with HR to discuss my start date and of course, there's a mix up. Their paper work says I need to start back any day after the 9th. I called Service Canada to find out the date on my ROE and it says my last day paid by my company was the 24th (taking into account all those leftover vacation days). So, there's the mix up. I finally found the email from the HR person I was dealing with last year and forwarded it to the new person. I'm obsessively checking my BlackBerry waiting to hear back.

The lovely lady at Service Canada then tells me that I will not receive EI after the 10th of April because of the vacation time I took instead of immediately applying for EI. She said they will not pay me for parental benefits for any days after my child turns 1. I have to look into this further but basically, I will now not be compensated for those extra 2 weeks. Sigh.

I called D in a panic and between my lack of voice due to cold and hysterical sobs, I'm pretty sure he had NO clue what I was going on about. The thought of suddenly losing those 2 weeks with M absolutely shattered me! I know it doesn't seem like much but I had really looked forward to having a bit more time at home with him after he turned 1. I don't care about the money because I just want those last few days with M... sniff, sniff.

Anyway, I've got 2 leads for a nanny for M. I've corresponded with one via email and she seems great. She comes highly recommended by a friend's sister so I've got my fingers & toes crossed. I spoke with the other woman today and she seems nice as well. I got her name from a nanny at the drop-in I have gone to and we're planning on meeting next week.

I really want to get this next step sorted out so we're comfortable with the person who will be joining our family in April. I'm also really hoping for that April 24th start date as it gives us a good few weeks to make the transition. It's overwhelming to know that I'm going back to work soon and it's frustrating that there are so many uncertainties. Where are Mary Poppins or Mrs. Doubtfire when you need them!?