In Honor Of One Year Of Working
Exactly a year ago today I went back to work after a 12-week maternity leave. When I got back in the office, I posted this "recap" on my company's internal communication website. I don't think I shared it here, but to mark 365 days of semi-successfully working and mom'ing, I thought I'd revisit it.
OCT 10, 2017
Today is my first day back to work after a 12-week maternity leave.
Twelve weeks is a long time. I know my team felt my absence and worked hard to cover for me—all while being supportive of my leave. For that I’m grateful. I know Steelcase is unusual offering such a lengthy leave. For that I’m beyond grateful.
Motherhood, and maternity leave, is a job in itself. There were long, hard, repetitive days I didn’t always love. There were also millions of beautiful moments and challenges we worked past that made it it such a valuable time to get to be focused solely on becoming a mom.
One week after we brought our first baby, Cameron, home from the hospital my husband had to return to work. I tried to get my newborn bearings and quickly learned when venturing out that Cameron hates the car seat. This is hard on us both as he’s clearly upset by something and I don’t want to feel confined to the house.
I know six weeks is standard leave at other companies, but Cameron at six weeks still seems so little! Around this time I caught him giggling in his sleep during a nap and was so glad to have been home to see that.
A bit more than halfway through my leave I learned so much about Cameron. He loves music and batting at toys in his jungle gym. I take him out for morning runs in the stroller plus car seat that clips in. He’s bigger now and is so curiously distracted by the trees overhead he must have forgotten to be upset.
With one week of leave to go I took him on a car seat challenge to a story time at a local kid’s store 45 minutes away. He falls asleep in the car, is fascinated by the other kids and seems so ready to learn about the world around him.
At 12 weeks old I know Cameron will not only be fine at daycare but that he can thrive there. Because of the support at Steelcase I’m confident I can return to work and thrive in my role as a professional and a mom too. And that’s a great feeling.
To my team: thank you for picking up the slack, for being supportive and for never saying “enough already” when sent another baby picture.
To my manager/director: thank you for your genuine excitement and encouragement, and for your gentle enjoy-your-time-but-we’re-excited-for-your-return comments which make me feel needed at work again in a good way.
To my extended team, co-worker friends, and random work “strangers” who held doors extra long for my pregnant self or who smiled, oogled and congratulated me when Cameron and I visited: thank you for your love, lack of annoying enjoy-sleep-while-you-can! comments and abundance of positive “you got this” affirmations.
OCT 10, 2017
Today is my first day back to work after a 12-week maternity leave.
Twelve weeks is a long time. I know my team felt my absence and worked hard to cover for me—all while being supportive of my leave. For that I’m grateful. I know Steelcase is unusual offering such a lengthy leave. For that I’m beyond grateful.
Motherhood, and maternity leave, is a job in itself. There were long, hard, repetitive days I didn’t always love. There were also millions of beautiful moments and challenges we worked past that made it it such a valuable time to get to be focused solely on becoming a mom.
One week after we brought our first baby, Cameron, home from the hospital my husband had to return to work. I tried to get my newborn bearings and quickly learned when venturing out that Cameron hates the car seat. This is hard on us both as he’s clearly upset by something and I don’t want to feel confined to the house.
I know six weeks is standard leave at other companies, but Cameron at six weeks still seems so little! Around this time I caught him giggling in his sleep during a nap and was so glad to have been home to see that.
A bit more than halfway through my leave I learned so much about Cameron. He loves music and batting at toys in his jungle gym. I take him out for morning runs in the stroller plus car seat that clips in. He’s bigger now and is so curiously distracted by the trees overhead he must have forgotten to be upset.
With one week of leave to go I took him on a car seat challenge to a story time at a local kid’s store 45 minutes away. He falls asleep in the car, is fascinated by the other kids and seems so ready to learn about the world around him.
At 12 weeks old I know Cameron will not only be fine at daycare but that he can thrive there. Because of the support at Steelcase I’m confident I can return to work and thrive in my role as a professional and a mom too. And that’s a great feeling.
To my team: thank you for picking up the slack, for being supportive and for never saying “enough already” when sent another baby picture.
To my manager/director: thank you for your genuine excitement and encouragement, and for your gentle enjoy-your-time-but-we’re-excited-for-your-return comments which make me feel needed at work again in a good way.
To my extended team, co-worker friends, and random work “strangers” who held doors extra long for my pregnant self or who smiled, oogled and congratulated me when Cameron and I visited: thank you for your love, lack of annoying enjoy-sleep-while-you-can! comments and abundance of positive “you got this” affirmations.