Battle Wounds

I have now experienced what all new parents go through when returning to work after spending quality time home with their new little ones, otherwise known as “maternity leave”. I held it together until I started ironing my work clothes for the next day. Before I knew it the tears were a flowing and I was creating water spots on my freshly pressed pair of work slacks. Hey, things could have been worse!

Being back in the office is certainly difficult, for more reasons that I was anticipating. First and foremost, being away from little Peyters is almost too much to bear. It creates that yearning to be a stay-at-home mom that I never really thought I would have, simply because I have the ingrown need to constantly be doing things chore and/or work related. Little did I know that raising a child (and one day it will be “raising children”) is in fact a full-time job. While raising a child may not provide the financial outcome that is a paycheck every two weeks, it certainly provides for other financial gains. Consider no daycare costs and consequently fewer doctors’ bills, not to mention the priceless factor of spending as much quality time with your child as possible.


The second challenge going back to work presents is directly related to my need to be buzzing around doing things on a constant basis. I am now back to the corporate lifestyle of sitting on my fanny all day in front of a computer, deteriorating my eye site and doing nothing for my ongoing battle with losing my baby weight. I suppose I will need to take even more trips to the water cooler and ramp up my strolls around cube land for extra added exercise.


Last, the challenge of avoiding communal germs lurking around every corner of the office seems never ending. While Peyton avoids the sickness found in public daycares, I on the other hand am deep in the middle of a melting pot of germs just waiting to attack at the most opportune moment. Needless to say I have every intention of purchasing a giant size bottle of hand sanitizer and if things get real nasty, I may have to bust out a breathing mask and claim that I’m simply trying to avoid the swine flu. Ha! We’ll see how long that one lasts before they find me out.

So to all you mothers and fathers out there who struggle with returning back to the full-time working cycle…you are not alone! I sympathize and am rooting you on as you fight your own going-back-to-work battles. Hang in there and when in doubt, just remember that your kids appreciate all that you do for them…even if they don’t realize it yet.