I would have never thought that being a mom might actually make me a better employee/co-worker.
In fact, I worried about the opposite.
You are tired. Cranky. Admit it, sometimes even dirty.
Surprisingly though, I have been back at work three weeks now and I have made some realizations.
Here are the four reasons that I may actually be a better employee now. I would give you five, but Zoey is starting to fuss and I'm not going to get that far.
4) You have to have a better sense of humor about yourself. "Why, yes, that is baby spittle on my collar and sleeve." Or discussing with the girls at work that sprouting a little human being isn't pretty, and you have to wear full body Spanx every day (and would like to wear several pairs). You have on a pound of undereye makeup and false eyelashes just so you can appear to be alive, and you may or may not have even had time to shower that morning (see above).
*Disclaimer: Just because you are not able to shower (and it doesn't happen often) doesn't mean you didn't take care of business. Don't judge.
3) You are more empathetic to others. Your life has become more complicated and sometimes hard to manage, so you assume others may be having a hard time too.
Instead of thinking: "What in the *&%$ did that person just say?" I now think: "I haven't slept in two days, maybe this person is also having some struggles at home, and not thinking before they open their mouth." (This is not all the time, just MORE often).
*Disclaimer #2: Most of the people I work with don't say crazy things, but don't we all spew things that make people say: "what the &^*%" sometimes?
2) You can't take it home with you. Literally you can't. If something goes wrong at work, or someone upsets you, you don't have time to ponder on it. You have to let it go, because the minute you walk in that door at home, there is a munchkin, husband and two dogs that all need something from you RIGHT NOW. By the time you get back to work the next day you have let it all go, and are able to focus on what needs to be tackled at that moment, not waste time on yesterday's issues.
1) You are more confident. I may be sporting Spanx, two pounds of makeup, and haven't slept, but I have oddly enough never felt better about myself. I literally created another human being.
Only the picture above can truly capture how proud I am. I know, I know, women have been doing it since the beginning of time - often with much more difficult circumstances, but seriously? I am amazed by this every day. I had a high risk pregnancy and it was tough. The recovery from a C-section is tough. Learning how to literally make sure another little human being has everything it needs to survive - tough. Instead of downplaying the difficulty because other women do it every day, I say "kudos ladies, this stuff is no joke."
So, don't feel fat, don't feel old, don't (somehow) even feel tired. Feel amazing.
Ok, so now when I blog I am going to try to post video of what Zoey was doing WHILE I was blogging (complete with my stupid "baby voice" in the background). Here is what she was doing today:
Also, I am going to try to write some advice for Zoey pertaining to what the subject of the blog is - in the hopes that one day she will think I might actually know a thing or two and read all of them. Here is to hoping.
Dear Zoey,
Never take a job just for the money, it will never make you happy.
You don't have to be rich or famous, if you are happy, you are doing much better than most people.
Also, feel free to date a co-worker, I hear sometimes this turns out really well.
Love you,
Mom
