WORK AND HOME– STRUGGLE OF WANTS
I am a working mom and one of the lucky few that really like my job. I have been at this job for 9.5 years and I still enjoy coming to work every morning. The job itself and my coworkers are great.
After every long holiday or long stretch at home with my daughter, I get giddy when I start counting down to going back to work. People usually dread the first day back in the office. I drive to work with rainbows and hearts shooting out of my car. Don’t get me wrong, I love her and I love spending time with her. I just also love the peace and quiet in my office; having my hair done and not having it in a mom bun; getting dressed up and wearing clean clothes for the entire day; drinking my coffee when it is hot; and going to the bathroom without someone banging on the door and saying “MOMMY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I WANT IN!!”
As I settle into my day and I stare at the many pictures of my daughter in my office, I miss her…like…a freaking lot. I want to leave right away, pick her up from dayhome, and snuggle with her for the rest of the night. Only issue, it is only 1:30pm. Got another three hours to go.
For the next three hours of my day, I am thinking about her, thinking about our dinner menu (kidding, it is usually just a one-pot dinner), and thinking of all the crafts I could be doing with her. I become jealous of all the stay at home moms that are probably crafting and taking their kids to see the wonderful things Calgary has to offer. They are having loads of fun and getting a lot of snuggles in. I am stuck at work. I now want to home with my daughter. I start planning my next vacation/stayaction and I count down to my next stretch of days with my daughter and plan all the wonderful things we can do together.
Likely, when my vacation/staycation comes, I will want to be back at work. I can only think of three solutions to my struggle:
I only work the mornings so that I can be home in the afternoon. I think that is the perfect arrangement for me. Not so much for my employer though. No go.
I bring my daughter to work with me. Not great for anybody. No go.
I embrace having two worlds available to me that I love. Yeah. This is the solution.