Things I've Learned About Being a Working Mom

April 25, 2012

This morning while I casually glanced at my Mom Agenda (side note: Moms you need one of these. Hurry, add it to your holiday wish list. It's the only way I manage to stay organized!) I noticed the date. April TwentyFifth. It's not a holiday, nor is it a family member's birthday. I don't have any meetings or special appointments today. Yet this day still marks a milestone for me. Two years ago today, I returned to work after having my son. It marked the day I officially became a Working Mom.

Looking back over these past two years, I've learned many things about being a Working Mom that I wish someone had told me, or more specifically, reassured me of.  Here’s a quick rundown of what it’s really like to be a Working Mom:

1.     It hurts your heart to leave your baby the first time you return to work following maternity leave.  There’s no sugarcoating it. YOU WILL CRY. A LOT.

2.     You will not get anything of value accomplished during those first days back at the office, so cut yourself some slack. You will be thinking/worrying about your newborn constantly. You may or may not call “just to check on” your precious little one semi-regularly. The surprising thing is that co-workers can be amazingly supportive of you during this transitional time.  Take up their offers to talk about how you’re feeling. It helps.

3.     You might find yourself second-guessing your decision to return to work. Again, this is totally normal. Give yourself time to adjust to your new routine and title of Working Mom.

4.     Chances are good that you will redecorate your desk with as many pictures of your little one as you can possibly make room for. While you are in the organizing stage, do yourself a favor and store an extra clean shirt (and pants too if you want to be on the safe side) at your desk. There is guaranteed to be at least one instance where you will go into work with spit up on yourself and not realize until you step into a meeting and someone kindly points it out to you.  Those tide pens are also life–savers, stash one in your desk drawer (and in your purse, in your car…).

5.     It gets easier. As clichéd as that sounds, there will come a time when everything snaps into place and you find your own groove as a Working Mom.

Luigi at 5 months

                                     

Luigi at 2 years old

What are some Work Mom truths that you’ve come to discover?