Well, its official – I’m a working mother. I’m no longer a SAHM or a WAHM. I set an alarm for 5:50am, shower, get ready, spend a little snuggle time with my boy and out the door I go for eight hours. In that department, its been miserable. I loathe the fact that I am not the one taking care of my child all day. That is what a mother is supposed to be doing: raising her children. She shouldn’t be away from them everyday, handing them over to someone else to do the work. Sorry, that just isn’t how it should be. But, for me, its what it is.
I did make it through the first day with no tears, they actually held out for day number two. I think I was sort of in a daze that first day and was preoccupied with hand shakes and outfits, but day two it sunk in. I miss him.
In terms of work itself though, its great. Everyone has been wonderful, nice, open and I’m working for what I consider a really great government initiative for ending the war in Afghanistan. I don’t feel comfortable talking openly about who or what I work for but my days should be exciting. Its taking a while to get into the swing of things and I’ve been occupied with in-processing paperwork, I-9’s, insurance elections and Welcome to The Company! pamphlets.
My time for blogging is nowhere to be found, much like my time for basically anything. So the ‘ole blog may look a bit neglected, but I’m still here, just working through life trying to find my new normal. But don’t worry, my sweetheart’s face can’t go long without popping up here.
I don’t know how the working mom’s do it, but I hope to figure out the secret very soon. Suggestions?
Sher Bailey is a writer in the Midwest who believes the power of humor, Mod Podge, and grandkids can fix most problems in life. You can find her at SherBailey.com.
I’m not a mom, but I do work full time and go to school full time and try to pay attention to my husband somewhere in between, my best suggestion is develop some kind of written schedule, at least in the beginning, to make sure you don’t leave anything out. Not that you’d ever leave your little man out, but you may have something special that you usually do with him that might end up falling through the cracks simply because you forgot. I write a lot of stuff down just so I don’t forget the little things.
You’ll sort it out soon enough. You are amazing.
Schedule as much as you can. I don’t know your daycare situation, but we just leave our bag there and take over a big box of diapers when she is out so I am not worrying about that every night. They provide all her food so I don’t have to worry about that, but if you do maybe take over a weeks worth at a time. We lay out outfits the night before and get everything ready. My hubby wakes our baby up and gets her fed and dressed while I am getting dressed–I wake up an hour earlier than everyone else to eat, shower, relax, check my email, etc. I cook on the weekends or plan easy meals for the week so when we are home we really enjoy our time together. It takes time but you will develop a routine that works for you!