I got an in-person job after being a work from home mom for 2 years

As usual for a lot of American mothers I only got 12 weeks of maternity leave, and yes that was un-paid. This was especially hard for me as my son was sick at 2 months and we spent 2 solid weeks in the hospital. I felt like I had been robbed of some of that precious time. The only Brightside was that when I returned to work I was working from home. I am so grateful for that time I was able to pull double duty by working full time and being able to care for my son.

Working in a grant funded field can be scary as a mother. You never know for sure if your funding is going to get pulled or not, and there is a ticking clock looming over you if you don’t spend considerable amount of time looking for more funding. As we neared the end of our grant I began exploring a career switch. I needed something that would be more solid and provide more pay as the needs of my son were increasing. Unfortunately, almost everything I found was in-person until a job that was hybrid fell in my lap.

Returning to work in person

Uh-oh now I need to find a daycare!

I applied, interviewed, and got the job. Yay! Now I had to find a good daycare. I’ve talked about this before by Bubba is speech delayed, so the daycare needed not only be good but somewhere that would allow his therapists to visit and continue to work with him. Now luckily most of the ones in our area did allow that, however they were also all fully booked for months.

I had about of month to wrap things up at my previous job and prepare for the new one. While searching for a daycare we took a LOT of tours! When you are touring ask LOTS of questions. Do not worry about coming across annoying this is your time to find out everything you need to know to make an informed decision. We started our little Bubba at the location we chose about a week before I started work. He only did half days this first week, I’d pick him up after his nap. This was to allow him to adjust to being in a new setting and still let me spend some precious 0 work time with him. I also needed to do a lot of shopping, over 2 years of pandemic and work from home meant my wardrobe consisted largely of yoga pants and comfy t-shirts. Not exactly work-appropriate.

Adjusting to working in an office

Working in an office when you have been working from home with a newborn is a huge adjustment. Since I was training and my responsibilities were pretty light suddenly I had free time, I was around other adults, and I could eat whatever I wanted without having to wolf it down. It was a little exhilarating. Don’t get me wrong I love my baby, but that first week, having an hour and a half lunch and autonomy felt almost like a vacation. This of course quickly died as my responsibilities increased, the amount of time I spent in traffic, and coming home to cook dinner meant I spent maybe an hour to an hour-and-a-half with my kiddo each evening. This wasn’t going to work for me long term.

Finding work life balance

One of the reasons I took this job was because of the hybrid schedule I would eventually have, which consisted of working from home Mondays and Fridays and working in the office Tuesday through Thursday. However, during the training period, it was in-office Monday through Friday. After about 2 months I was able to work from home on Fridays and eventually Mondays as well. When this happened, I felt like my work life balance increased substantially. I was able to spend a few more hours with my kid on Mondays and Fridays. Adding to this my husband started cooking more meals so that when I did get home I didn’t always need to pop into the kitchen right away.

How Things have Changed

I think it took for granted all the time I was able to spend with my Bubba. Yes I would often say that I was lucky and grateful. However, you just don’t know how lucky you are until your situation changes and you see things from the other side. Because of my new job where I am low man on the totem pole I don’t have nearly as much flexibility. My husband has now taken on the responsibility of getting our son ready every morning and taking him to and from daycare. Those first few months if he got sick or needed to go to an appointment dad took him, I didn’t have the PTO. This was a HUGE adjustment for me. While it’s great that Dad is involved, the type A person in me definetly did not want to let go of those reins.

Looking back, I think this was a great thing for our family. My husband gets to feel like the involved dad that he is, and I am able to get some adult freedoms that I didn’t have before. I am making a bit more money which gives us some financial freedoms we didn’t have before. The structure is good for all of us, there were weeks when I wore the same outfit days in a row because I didn’t leave the house. Our son is speech delayed and being around other kids in a more structured setting is beneficial to him.

It does make me sad to think that if I have another child I won’t be able to spend those first two years bonding, I’ll have to do what many women in America do and put them in the care of others when they are only a few months old. While a part of me is dreaming of being a stay at home Mom I do also love being able to provide for my family in multiple ways. If the opportunity came my way I’d jump on it in a heartbeat but for now I am content with my work-life-balance and what I am able to accomplish both professionally and personally.