five things from a working madre
hi! To ring in my first day back to work, it feels like back to school time, my friend, coworker and madre to baby Lola, Molly is sharing five pieces of advice as I jump back into the working world. I love her humorous, honest & sweet notes.
Dear Making La Madre,
We're so glad to have you back at work and I wish you a smooth transition, looking forward to coffee with you soon! Here are my thoughts on five things that helped me with the jump into working mum-hood. I was very grateful to have almost four months with my newborn Lola. The time we shared together was very special to me, the days felt long but the weeks went by fast. My return to work was pretty smooth, but I definitely had mixed emotions about it. During maternity leave there were a lot of things I missed about being at work, having a schedule, my friends and team, starting and finishing projects, typing on a computer etc. A few weeks prior to going back I typed up Lola¹s birth story, (1) because I wanted it documented and (2) because I wasn¹t sure if I would remember how to type. So double win. I remember thinking a lot about the logistics of things, like how I would actually get ready, get Lola ready, get out of the house and somehow have my shit together. Looking back these were the 5 game changers for me.
1) Lightening Up I had a lot of things that I needed to take with me every day: computer (that was old and super heavy), papers, workout clothes, breast pump, parts and more. I found myself in a serious bag crisis. I started out by using my diaper bag, but despite how cool it was in the world of diaper bags it was super dorky in my work world. It had to go, FAST. Like an angel, my friend Michelle came to the rescue well actually she came into town for a visit sporting a new tote which loved and bought from her on the spot. It neatly fit my necessary items, bag crisis resolved. I also requested a lighter computer, can't even explain what a huge difference that has made.
2) Train Schedule I spent a little bit of time working in Europe where I learned the importance of a train schedule. If you miss the train, you miss a meeting or dinner or more importantly sitting in the sliver of sunshine on the patio with a glass of wine. Now I treat my mornings and evenings like a train schedule because I can¹t miss that sliver of sunshine before she goes to sleep.
3) Relearn You know what is the worst when think you know how it is and you really don't. I work in digital and I heard a shocking stat that in 5 years only 15% of what I know today will be relevant. I decided to focus on the silver lining here. For me, I treated maternity leave as an opportunity to come back and re-learn a ton. I looked at topics that used to bore me to death with a fresh perspective, and I have in fact learned a TON, uncovered so big wins and found myself out of my comfort zone often. Never stop learning.
4) Workout = Good Day I've always loved to workout, but before being a madre it was more of an item I tried to check off my 'to do' list than something I had the privilege of doing. Undisputedly, if I workout I have a better day. I found a mini-efficiencey by dropping off Lola at daycare (thankfully her day care opens at 6:30AM) in my workout clothes and heading straight to the gym. I get my workout done early and pretty quickly, 30 mins down from what was usually an hour. Plus, there is the rare upside of being able to get ready for the day without trying to juggle a baby and of course good parking.
5) Love like crazy Since my time during the weekdays with Lola and my husband is limited, I'm trying to block out all the distractions. Lola usually falls asleep on me every night and I have this guilty pleasure of putting my face up close to hers and smelling her little breaths. It's my favorite thing. Since she goes to bed at seven and is thankfully an excellent sleeper, Josh and I have plenty of time to make dinner together and catch up in the evening (this time surprisingly resembles our pre-baby life a lot). Lastly, I never go to bed at night with out starting the dishwasher. If those bottles aren't washed in the morning all hell breaks loose. With love, Molly