Category: Family

So, I put on my ‘grown up pants’ this week and went back to work. Well, maybe not my grown up pants – but actual dress pants instead of my typical maternity leave wardrobe of Under Armour comfy pants.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand…going back to work.

For the first couple months I’ll be working part-time while my maternity leave runs out, and then I’ll be back to full-time in mid-June.

I woke up super early Tuesday morning (partly my idea, partly my son’s idea…) and started my new routine of getting Jack ready and then getting myself ready. I loaded us and all our stuff into the car, stopped by Starbucks*, and went up the road to drop him off at my mother’s house.

I am very proud to say that at no point did I cry.

I feel like everyone cries when they first drop off their kid so that they can return to work, but I didn’t. Not even a little bit.

And it’s not because I’m a super heartless person who doesn’t care that I’m leaving my baby behind. Mostly it’s because I fully trust my mom to take just as good care of Jack as I do. She did a pretty awesome job with me, my brother and my sisters, so I really doubt she’s going to screw up my kid.

So, I returned to work on Tuesday and have to say that I LOVED being back. It was so great to see my coworkers and meet the new bossy boss** that started in my absence. I enjoyed my first staff meeting back and was able to add to the discussion – even with my mommy brain and lack of talking to adults for the past two months.

Now, I have to say I was exhausted after working two super long 13 hour days at work, but all in all it was great to be back. I’m really glad that I have the option of working part-time to ease my way back into the swing of things.

So for those of you who are sick to death of me writing about my baby and want me to return to posting on marketing and business practices – I promise I’ll do better!

Obviously I’m not going to fully omit my random thoughts about Jack or my adventures in being a mommy, but I will also be focusing on how I’m juggling being a working mother and still having a life.

I mean, I hope I’ll still have a life…

I guess I’ll figure that out as I go along.

* Dear Starbucks, I love your drive-through so much. The friendly ladies that work there and the massive amount of hot caffeinated deliciousness that I can get without even leaving the car makes my life so much better. Love, Julie

** Definition of “bossy boss”: the boss of my boss.

My last day at work was Monday, February 13^th.

At the time, I had no idea that would be my last day in the office. I wasn’t due for two more months and thought I had plenty of time to get ready for my maternity leave.

Of course, life likes to surprise you – so instead of planning as I normally would, I plopped out a baby and never went back to work.

I would have liked to go back and work some days while Jack was still in the NICU, but my short term disability insurance wouldn’t allow it so I was required to take my leave immediately.

My awesome job is actually giving me 12 weeks off (60 workdays) for maternity leave, but due to some random issues I need to return on at least a part-time basis before I have three $0 paychecks. So, after taking off 40 workdays in a row, I’ll be returning to work three days a week until my leave runs out in June.

With only the rest of this week and next week off before I start back at work, it’s starting to feel a little weird.

Part of me is pretty excited to return to the office. I have my work laptop and blackberry at home with me, so I’ve kept up-to-date on most of the office shenanigans. I’m totally looking forward to putting on nice clothes, going to the office and having grown up conversations. Since I truly do love marketing and enjoy the people I work with, it will be nice to get back into the swing of things. I’m a little intimidated because a new department head was hired and I’ll be meeting him for the first time, but I’m keeping positive and hoping that he’s just as cool as everyone else.

The other part of me – the one that can chill around the house all day in pj’s and snuggle up with my son – doesn’t want to go back at all.

I know, this is CRAZY! I’ve always been that girl that has said that I couldn’t imagine being a stay at home mom and would miss work too much. And this is still true. But I can now see the draw in staying home.

My son is awesome. And adorable. And hilarious. And every day I spend with him I love him even more (if that’s even possible). So, the idea of leaving him to go to work feels like a joke. Especially because I JUST got him back from the hospital.

The only thing that makes this option not rip my heart out is our childcare plan of having my mom, husband and me split the days caring for Jack. Knowing that Jack will be cared for by family makes it so much easier for me to tolerate. Because it’s not just me dropping him off somewhere while I go to work, it’s that my son is lucky enough to spend time with his grandmother.

Which is doubly-good because she won’t think I’m a psycho when I check in multiple times a day… while working my butt off at the office. See, you can have the best of both worlds!