Lesson 4: Working 9 to 5

Uf, getting back to the blog after the Christmas holidays and the horrible January. Sorry for the long absence.

And this hard month brings me to the next lesson: going back to work after the maternity leave!

Well, I will just say it plain: it isn't easy.

First you have to deal with the guilt feeling.
And it is not a simple feeling. You feel guilty because your baby is  at the nursery (that lovely place that he actually enjoys more than being all day at home but that you have associated it with a jail for babies, yep, that place).
You feel guilty because you are actually enjoying being away from him, having a small slice of your previous life back, having adult conversations, being something else than a mum. Don't deny it, you are having a nice time and you feel bad about it.

Secondly, you have to deal with the stress and the very very very tight timetables. You will spend longer than usual getting ready in the mornings, and you would have had less sleep than usual so your movements will be slower...
You will be running to the office without make-up or with uncoordinated socks or forgetting something or without checking your hair. Forget it. You will never be the same. You are a working mum!
And after all the hard day of work, run again to pick her up from the nursery. Entertain her while preparing dinner or organising the house and get ready for the bath and the bed routine. By 8pm you will die for a bed...

Last but not least, you will try to keep things as they were before. You will accept the same amount of work and even will try to juggle travel and outings with the colleagues, just to keep in the loop. "Nothing has changed, I am the same person" will be your mantra. Although some morning you will find difficult to remember your computer password.

I know, it looks impossible. But it is not. Just try to relax and enjoy the roller coaster that your life has become. I promise more fun moments are coming your way.

You will learn to live with a survival kit in your handbag and that will make you an asset in your office.

You will be admired and feared by your colleagues.

The few hours you will spend with your child will become the most fantastic and fun times of your day, and he/she will feel the same.

You will be a survivor!!!.