Returning to Work After Baby
Working moms don’t have it easy. We have had to make the gut wrenching decision to return to work a few short weeks or months after having a baby. Sadly enough, many women don’t get the choice to stay at home or return to work because the choice is already made for them due to the circumstances they face. Maybe they’re a single mom and their family relies on their income, or maybe it’s that their family can’t rely on only one income. Either way, when moms have to decide whether to go back to work or stay at home they sacrifice a part of their identity and do a lot of crying in the process.
You see, when a mom has to decide to return to work she’s usually making that decision a few weeks postpartum when her hormones and emotions are running wild. I was fortunate enough to stay home for 3 months with both of my babies, but every day that passed while I was on maternity leave meant I was one day closer to returning to work. The thought of leaving my babies and what my new reality was going to be like once returning to work weighed heavy on my heart. I cried, a lot, wondering how I was going to do it.
The decision to stay at home or return to work is one of the most difficult decisions a woman will make in her life. And, probably one that she will regret for one reason or another in the future when she’s reflecting on her life. She’ll wonder what she could have become if she stayed in her career instead of staying at home, or she’ll regret all of the firsts that she missed when she was at work. Staying at home means giving up financial freedom and contributing to her family, but returning to work means missing time with her children that she’ll never get back.
What It Means to Be a Working Mom
As a working mom you are constantly making sacrifices. Sometimes you have to choose between missing a work meeting or missing an event at school. The worst is when your kids are sick and all they want is you but you can’t fathom the idea of calling out, again. What will everyone in the office think if I miss one more day this week? You wonder whether or not people are going to start labeling you as unreliable. Maybe your worried that someone else who isn’t a parent is going to get that promotion over you because they can show up earlier and stay later to get the job done. Little do they know how hard we work every. single. day. even after we leave our work place. Moms don’t get to punch out and go home for the day. We work around the clock and run ourselves into the ground trying to please everyone.
But mama, I know how hard you work. I understand the stress that you deal with day in and day out.
I know…
…that you you hit the ground running as soon as you wake up
…that you reheat your coffee 3 times before you get to finish the cup
…that you try to cover your tired eyes with makeup
…that you struggle to get you and everyone else ready in the morning
…that it’s a struggle to get the kids to eat their breakfast and put on their shoes so you can get out the door
…that you’ve already lost your cool at least once before 8 AM
…that you are exhausted, both mentally and physically, by the time you sit in your car to go to work
…that you are trying your best to survive each and every day and show up for work and your family
…that you are stronger than you think you are.
Motherhood Ain’t For the Weak
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We don’t get enough credit for all that we do, day in and day out, to support our families. The work that moms do in a day is more than most people can handle in a few day’s time. So if you’ve made it this far I want you to know that you are doing one hell of a job trying to balance it all. If you’re always asking yourself how you are going to make it even just one more day, I want you to remind yourself that you are capable of doing hard things. Even in the last round of the fight when we’ve been knocked down again and again we get back up and we keep swinging. We are badasses.
If no one told you today, you’re awesome.
Like what you’ve read? Check out what else I had to say about breastfeeding in this post here.
Dori says
This was a great blog kristi – and so true. I was lucky enough to be home with the three of you, but that was also a hard “job”. mothers definitely do not get enough credit 🙂