Did I freak you out? Neither Eric nor I have been laid off, but Ike has.
Last Wednesday my boss called me into her office to discuss making arrangements so that I wouldn't bring Ike into the office anymore. Truthfully, I was getting to the point where I didn't feel like bringing him in with me in the mornings was really working. He needs more attention from me, and he needs a quiet place to nap - a place where my co-workers do not walk in loudly and start chatting with my other co-workers.
It was still a let-down, though. I've so enjoyed having him with me as much as I have. It was great that I started taking him to work with me when he was eight weeks old and continued full time until he was sixteen weeks old. Once we moved to our new house I dropped to part-time because making the 45-minute commute every day would make me crazy. I also wanted to have more time to be a wife and mother. Admittedly, during those eight weeks of working full time, my attempt at being a good employee, a good mother and a good wife were not super successful.
So, for the last few months I've been working from home three days a week and taking Ike to the office with me twice a week. But that came to a halt last Wednesday. My boss told me that I could take as much time as I wanted working from home until I found somebody I felt good about to watch Ike. Fortunately, I already had somebody in mind. I called her and asked if she'd be keen to watch him twice a week, and she was.
I took Ike to her place (which is in my old apartment building, so it's just a few minutes' walk from my work), in the morning. Then I proceeded to be incredibly anxious all day. I couldn't pinpoint why I was anxious. I wasn't the least bit worried about him being taken care of well. Obviously I trust the person who is watching him, or else I wouldn't leave him there. I really don't know what made me anxious, but that was the longest I'd been away from Ike at one time. He survived, and when I went to pick him up he didn't really even seem to care that I'd been gone all day.
Wednesday was much better, and I'm really excited about the arrangement.
I've also found that on my work-at-home with Ike days, I enjoy his company a lot more than before. Perhaps this enjoyment will wane, but I find myself telling him throughout the day how much I like having him around. I don't think I realized before how much I like his company.
2 comments:
It's so great when you can find the right balance of work and mom. I am much better with Genghis when we have some time apart.
Welcome to motherhood and trying to be a supermom. I hope this new arrangement continues to work for you. I found, too, that I was a much better mother when I worked part time.
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