Monday 23 January 2017 was life altering for me. Genuinely life (as it has been recently) altering. Why? Well, after just under a year of being on maternity leave from my employed work – I went back this week. Whoa. Considering that I am coming up to 15 years in the work place (post-education… with some years part time before that), it’s incredible how “big” this moment feels. It genuinely feels momentous and that tells me so much. It tells me that this one year in my life, the year in which I had and spent full time with my daughter, in our bubble at times, my world changed so significantly that even for this career-loving (recovering workaholic) gal, going back to what was always my normal feels completely alien.

 

In returning to work after maternity leave, do / did you relate to this?

 

Now I know that this unfamiliar feeling is temporary. Getting up early and commuting to work feels strange at the moment. (Well half does. New mamas, you’ll know early mornings are probably the norm – it’s just the leaving the house for the incredibly early commute that’s different!) I am sure that I’ll get back into my stride incredibly quickly and my old normal will become my new normal… or will it?

 

To be honest… I don’t want my old normal, as it was, to creep back in. I don’t. Yes I loved it pre mamahood. I loved my employed work (part of which involves working with teenagers in a secondary school), I loved my self employed Limitless Coaching day one weekday a week. I was happy… for sure. But y’know what? I am a different person now. So different and I intend to own that proudly. While I am looking forward to reconnecting with professional work place me (Certainly a significant part of who I am) I am also excited and honoured to incorporate motherhood me. Motherhood me who won’t be the last one to leave the building as I’m determined to finish every last drop of a project. Motherhood me who probably won’t do after work drinks for awhile. Motherhood me who will make it clear that 3pm is the latest time to put a meeting in my diary. Motherhood me who has actually set a recurring “Play time: pick up the baby” alarm – so I am reminded to head off ‘on time’ to go pick up the lil one from her childminder.

 

This is the new me. The evolution of me. The mama who has a challenging and enjoyable career, who is working on building a career coaching business, who recognises the need to have support structures to enable our family to do what it needs to do – and who is determined, more than ever to be in service to fellow mums and dads who are striving to achieve a work and life blend that suits their families. The me who knows that we have choices when it comes to our careers, and knows that the power of career coaching means I am in a great position to help fellow parents make the most of theirs.

 

I’m keeping positive and looking forward to digging into some interesting projects at work – though I recognise there will be ups and downs so I’ll keep you posted on how the back to work journey goes but in the meanwhile I encourage you to dig deeper into what I’m creating for you… including the new Creative Career Solutions for Parents podcast (Just. So. Exciting… see full post about it here).
So tell me… how was returning to work after maternity leave for you? Do you remember the highs and lows? Is this yet to come for you? Did you come up with an alternative plan to the job you left? I’m intrigued… do feel free to share your experiences in the comments…

 

[PS – If you’re based in the UK, this is a useful resource from the Money Advice Service]