I am ready to go back to work because:
- I need a reason to get dressed and brush my hair every day.
- It will be nice to have some adult interaction.
- I miss my coworkers.
- My desk. I like my workspace. What? :)
- 10 hour work days during the summer mean I only have to work 3 days.
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| my old workspace, pre-move |
- I feel guilty that after every nap, every time Harrison gets hungry, every time he wants comfort, he's going to look for me and I won't be there for him. That hurts.
- My department moved buildings while I was on leave, so now my office is a windowless dungeon.
- Adjusting to a new routine is going to be hard.
- I'm never going to see my husband since we'll be on opposite schedules.
- Mid-August is when Harrison will begin going to daycare 2 times a week. Sigh.
- 10 hour work days. Yes, there's only 3 of them, which is awesome, but 10 hours is long, yo.
- I get overwhelmed easily. Going to work on top of everything else I have/want to do? Scary.
- Pumping at work is going to be hard.
Working mamas, how did you adjust to going back to work? Any tips?
First, totally jealous of 5 months, but gosh it would have made it so much harder!! I'll be thinking of you Monday!! My experience as a working momma, the first day sucks. But then it gets easier and easier. Not sure where H will be going, but my hubs drops C off in the am because I don't know if I could do that or not, but I get to pick him up in the afternoons. And its the best part of the day when I pick him up and he sees me and starts smiling and beaming! We've also been talkative and ask questions to try and get to know his 'teachers', because of that I can tell that they care about him. And in complete honesty, as much as we think our boys need US, at this age they don't care who is taking care of them so long as they're getting fed, clean dipes, having naps and someone to play with. C at this young age already seems to really enjoy interacting with the other babies in his class too, which is good for him. As far as routine, do as much as you can the night before. For us, C's school bag with his cloth dipes, paci and wet bag is packed, our lunches are made and in our lunchbags in the fridge to grab, I shower and dry my hair at night so in the am I just have to get up, get dressed and put on makeup and leave. It was a tough transition for me at first to go from the laid back go with the flow mentality of 12 weeks of maternity leave to the structured every minute seems to have a purpose reality of being a working momma, but it too becomes routine. You can do it!! As far as pumping at work, I did it for about a month before my already low supply dropped and I had to stop due to needing to get on fertility drugs to try for #2, but it isn't horrible. I told my coworkers and boss about it and put it on my public calendar so people could see it. It was actually nice to be able to shut the door and have some downtime each day! ;) Good luck and remember you're working to provide a better life for H, or thats what I tell myself about C!
ReplyDeleteI went back to work after only 6 weeks!! Which is far too short of a time. However, the one good thing was that I didn't have time to get too settled into a routine and used to being home all the time and then have to make the transition for both us and I think Hunter adjusted easier since he was so young. It's like he's known his daycare teachers his whole life. The first day will suck. You will cry. But it WILL get better. Especially after a hard weekend or rough night it's actually nice to drop him off and go to work which can be relaxing in comparison. You can finally eat and pee at your leisure. Just remember that daycare is not the devil. They are learning a lot and getting to interact with other kids and adults. Hunter LOVES his daycare and his teachers really adore him. I don't think I would be a good SAHM mom so it works for us. I'm sure you'll both be fine. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteWow it's like Shannon took the words right out of my mouth! I also went back after only 6 weeks and it was hard going back but we got into the swing of things pretty easily. Violet was staying with her grandma so I never had any worries. Now she stays with Ronnie while he's out of school for the summer so again I know she's in good hands. Nowadays though, I daydream about the weekends and enjoy them more than I ever have in my life! I feel like I TRULY appreciate my time with Violet even more during those two days together. Sunday nights can be a bummer but once I'm at work on Monday morning, I feel like I get to be "me" for a bit and that's been really nice. Hanging out with other adults, going to lunch, surfing the net without interruption - it's all something I've come to appreciate. I think it does both of us some good that I get to "unwind" a little when I'm at work (well as much as one can unwind while working ;). I'm sure you'll start to feel that way eventually too. And on the days when it's so freaking hard to leave Violet behind, I remind myself that I'm only doing this for her. I *have* to do it for her or else she'd have no roof over her head and no food in her belly! She's what keeps me going and H will be the same for you! Good luck, mama, y'all will do great :)
ReplyDeleteI went back after 10 weeks and had a really hard time. My baby stayed with my mom until last week. She starts daycare next week, and I'm totally dreading it even though I know it's a great daycare!
ReplyDeleteWill you be able to go home for lunches? With a ten hour day they should be giving you an hour for lunch so that could be a great time to go home, store the milk you've pumped and spend some QT with your little guy.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you mama!! Hope you had a stress free first week back <3
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