Jun 2, 2017
For those of you who have been following my emotional journey of returning to work, then welcome back and for you new readers, hello, it’s good to have you here. Want to know how I’m managing? Keep reading!
This week marks 2 months of me being a 2 months (I had to hashtag it as it’s a popular one that I keep an eye on so I wanted to get involved) and what a 2 months it has been. I have had some major highs but also some major lows (I will go into those later).
Delegation is the key to good management
Before I returned to work, in all honesty, I was anxious. My nerves focused around leaving my son and how he would adjust to his new life. Daycare was going to be a big adjustment for him and so was not being next to me 24/7. However, it turns out that he has thrived and I think that he is learning more than he ever could do just cooped at home with me (there is only so much finger painting a stay at home Mum can do)
The one thing that has shocked me though, is the sheer amount of time that he is sick. In the 9 weeks that he has been at Daycare, we have had a trip to RPA Hospital at 3 am for croup, a severe bout of family gastro and Strep throat…. It has been very challenging, especially when you consider that we don’t have any family support here.
Another thing that I was anxious about was ‘Mum guilt’. Whilst I was on maternity leave, I was totally dedicated to my son, he took every ounce of my being. I Co-Slept, breastfed, made batches of homemade organic stew to feed him and in all honesty, I let my needs take a back seat. After 12 months, I didn’t realise that I needed a break, I was worn out and I wasn’t managing to look after myself.
At first, I thought that going back to work was only going to add to that and I would burn out. This only added to my nerves about being a #workingmum (there is that hashtag again).
However, if you ignore the constant sickness and extreme tiredness….. the being back at work part has been great! It has been so rewarding to use my brain again and have adult conversations that don’t revolve around nappy creams and nap schedules. So no, I don’t have that mum guilt that I was anxious about, in fact, I think that it is better for my son to see me as a woman who has a career as well as being his mum…. Although I am not sure that his 14-month-old brain quite gets that yet?!
Thank god for technology!
I thought that this blog would be a good chance to reflect on the past 2 months and what I (or should I say we as a family have achieved)… so I am going to list them!
- Daycare- from screams at drop off to screams when I have to take him home….. what a change!
- Managing to learn a new database at work- being no mean feat when I couldn’t remember how to use a computer
- Getting my head around a new market, I could have taken the easy route and gone back to my cosy Software Development market but SAP was calling
- Managing the Placement of 2 candidates in a prestigious client
- 1…. Now 2 blogs!
- Surviving some pretty hardcore family sickness episodes- RPA is not a nice place at 3 am
- Gentle sleep training- we went from Co-Sleeping with constant wake ups to full nights in his cot. Although I cannot take credit for this one, this was all on my partner, I even moved next door whilst he did it
- My partner starting a new job
- Figuring out how to run a household, cook healthy food and work 3 days!
- Realising that being a #workingmum is pretty cool
I am going to remember these points the next time I am having a pretty tough day (because yes, they do happen) and think to myself, well done Abby…. The Van Rooyen/Hussey household is managing to hold it together pretty well.
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