Working mums - what's it like?

[RedPanda]

I start back at work full time in two months . I don't feel guilty for leaving DS because he'll be with his dad, but I just feel a bit sad. I feel like I'll be missing out on him! I'm only going back to work for six months (hopefully!), so I know that I'll be home again soon, but the thought of work just depresses me! I'll also miss coffee with my friends, and mothers group. I'd like to say I'll miss Bubhub, but who am I kidding? I'll be online at work so I'll still get my BH fill

So my question after my long rant is...

What's it like going back to work when you really don't want to? Do you think about your child all the time, or do you find that your mind just focuses on work?

[RedPanda]

*Bumpity bump*

Anyone?

[carls]

I reluctantly went back to work. Money was a bit of an issue but I was also offered a job I couldnt refuse and I have to say its pretty cushy with excellent pay. Thankfully they have worked around the hours I want to do so DP can look after James on his days off when I work instead of him having to go into daycare. To begin with I was really missing James and always calling home but once DP proved he could do it I was fine. I only work 2.5 days a week but I really enjoy the adult interaction. I do my job a bit half a** and always put james first so if i cant cover someone or cant come into work for a staff meeting thats just tough cheese because family comes first!
I hate to admit it but I LOVE the time away from home! So in a nutshell my job is a job to pay the bills. Its not my passion anymore, its just a means to an end, but I enjoy getting out and going there.

[Seekrit]

My job keeps me occupied all the time.. I work with kids.. so I don't have much time to sit around sooky and sorry for myself. I do catch myself looking at my watch and smiling "only 2 more hours 'til I see my bubba!!!"

The first day was very very hard. I dropped Cobey off at his Grandma's and managed to get out of the door without crying, then I sat in the car and sobbed.
I sobbed all the way to work (40 min drive)
I got out of the car and strolled up the driveway to meet the new principal (same job/school, just new staff) and I burst into tears as I opened her office door. But she'd been through the same 3 times before so she embraced me in a huge hug uintil I stopped sooking.
The second day was much easier.

You know, talking about that made me cry. heh.

I have photos of Cobes all around the place, in the staff room we have the Baby Wall LOL where we all put updated pics of our sons, daughters, neices, nephews and grandbabies. He's my desktop background and I have two more photos on my notice board.. so I'm constantly reminded of what a cute and happy boy he's become, when I feel sad.

It helps that he LOVES his carers too.. both Grandma and Daycare.. he waves good bye to me when I drop him off and when I come home he crawls from one end of the room to the other and I have to cuddle him until I leave, otherwise he cries... that makes it lovely..

Personally, I'm tired a lot.. and I've been back at work 8 weeks and gone through a throat infection, a bad head cold and gastro.. mainly because I've been run down.

So yeah.. I probably talked far too much into what you wanted.. but it does help that I'm kept busy pretty much from 8am - 4pm other wise I don't think I'd stay sane!

Good luck!

[aardvark]

I went back to work last week 3 days per week and it is hell - and I am super organised, and have a cleaner coming in.

If i could earn a decent living easily from home, I would not have even considered it.

[brooke]

first off its hard at first the thought of going back to work and there is no reason why you have to miss out on coffee with friends... make them come to you at work and have lunch with you!

I agree the 1st day or week is the hardest. then after that i found that i slipped right back in.. thats not to say you wont have days where you will just want to cry because you miss your bubba and wonder what they are doing. I find the time at work fantastic.. i enjoy getting my brain moving and talking to other adults and feeling like "me" the adult.. the working woman and the best part... I GET A LUNCH BREAK!

[Me]

It really is a hard thing to do. I was offered my current job when DD was 6mths old and at the time didn't know what to do. DH said I'll never know if i don't give it a go... I could always leave if i wasn't happy. After 2mths DH decided to start his own business and so that choice for me to leave was then gone. I must admit that, for me, working full time is just too much. but right now, I don't have a lot of choice. For me I find having constant reminders their of DD makes it harder for me. On the odd occasion I have looked at one of her paintings at work and just about burst into tears. But then there are the days when you are super busy at work and the day flys by and I am back with DD before I know it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if possible, keep your options open, so that if you really really hate it, their is a choice to cut back or stop. good luck. I am sure that 6mths will fly by

[Roxy]

It's the hardest thing I ever done - twice.

Given the choice, I wouldn't have gone back, but the bank account dictated otherwise.

I have cried the whole way to work more than once.

My house is a mess, the washing is never up to date and I don't get a lot of sleep.

I miss my babies through the day.

But - on the positive side...my children are social, independant, confident little people, who have learnt to cope with a myriad of situations and form close bonds with other adults because of daycare. They do things there that we don't do at home, they have toys and books there that we don't have here (and don't have a hope of having here), and I have made some really great friends with the other mums who wear the same working-mum shoes that I do...

[shed]

I am currently at work, its my third day and its a bit quiet so I have popped in here.

Bubby is at home with daddy, he has been to the family daycare twice, for a couple of hours each time and tomorrow he starts there fulltime, I will drop him off in the morning and DP will pick him up.

This was completely my decision and I didn't have it hanging over me for the past seven and a half months, I just decided one day last week and applied for a job and got it, so its probably not the same.

I thought I would feel guilty but I don't. I didn't even have to come back to work, we had planned for me to stay home for two years.

I wanted to come back to work.

I enjoyed the first six months at home with bubby but in the last month or so I was getting more and more unhappy. I am very independent and used to earning my own money. I guess I couldnt hack it. It was too much of a dramatic change to what I am used to.

I think I am a great mum. I am however, a cr@p housewife and I couldn't stand it another minute.

This is a six month contract, so its nice to know its just for a while, not forever. That helps alot.

I never dreamed I would go back to work so soon and it has shocked everyone around me as well. Ya just never know what the future holds and things change.

My situation is different so I can't really help. But I DO think about DS all the time. I am still breastfeeding so my milk lets down constantly as well, LOL!!

[Eeyore]

I went back to work 4days per week when DD was 6months old. I knew that this would be the arrangement before DD was born. With this in mind, I was not upset or distressed by DD going into childcare. I am really happy with the centre she is at as they let her fingerpaint and play in the sandpit and lots of other stuff that she wouldnt do at home.

Having said all of this, I do have to be really organised just to get dinner on the table and laundry in the washing machine. Its hard, but unfortunately I dont have a choice