Monday is a day that I haven’t been looking forward to for quite awhile. After spending the past 13 weeks at home with little man, I’ll be heading back to work next week. I know that not every mother gets to spend a full three months at home with their babies and I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend as much time at home with him as I have. That doesn’t mean that I’m any more ready to go back to work though. As I transition back to work, I’m beyond thankful that little man gets to spend another two weeks at home before he starts daycare. Preston will be taking a couple days of paternity leave early next week, and then my mom will be here for 11 days to help take care of little man while we’re at work. I’m also thankful that when the school year ends at the end of June that I’ll be back home for the summer with little man.
I’m going to miss spending my days at home with my little Mickey Mouse
Last week when I was at the chiropractor, the receptionist tried to joke with me that my “vacation” was coming to an end. I tried to convince her that maternity leave is anything but a vacation. Anybody who does think maternity leave is a vacation should check out this Scary Mommy article.
Despite the sleepless nights, the difficult days of trying to figure out why little man was upset, recovering from giving birth, and other things that go along with having a newborn, I wouldn’t trade the past three months that I’ve spent at home with little man for anything. There’s so much I’m going to miss about not continuing to stay home with him, including:
1. Spending countless hours with my little man. Although there were some difficult days when he was very fussy, I will never regret maximizing my maternity leave. Its been amazing to witness just how much he’s grown and changed since he was born three months ago, and I fear missing out on some of his changes by not spending as many hours a day with him as I have been.
Little man the day he was born
2. Seeing his smiling face. Over the last couple of weeks, he’s really started smiling a lot more, and I can’t help but smile when he smiles.
Baby smiles are one of the best sights ever!
3. Our mid day stroller walks. Although the blizzard at the end of January resulted in the sidewalks being snow and ice covered for several weeks, little man and I have gone for several walks a week for the past couple of weeks. The time outside has been good for both of us.
Little man and I after a walk last week
4. Afternoon cuddle time. There are few things sweeter than having a baby snuggled up and napping on you.
Who doesn’t love having a warm baby snuggled up on their chest?
5. Spending most days in yoga pants. Unless little man and I had someplace to be, I often got dressed in sweats after taking a shower. Life will be quite different as I readjust to dress clothes and heels.
QOTD: To my fellow mommies, what do you miss most about when your child(ren) were newborns?
As always, thank you to the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!) for hosting the weekly Friday Five Link Up. Be sure to check out their posts as well!
Aww Kathryn, I wish you were staying home with your sweet little boy a little longer. You are a great mom and it is obvious you just love taking care of him. Hopefully the return to school will go very smoothly for everyone in the family.
Thanks Pam.
I hope this is an easy adjustment for you. I know I felt bad leaving my Labrador when I went back to work I can only imagine this would be 10x harder!
Thanks Meranda.
Aww… that photo of the baby in the Mickey Mouse hoodie is so cute! I hope the transition goes well, or as well as can be expected anyway. Good luck!
Thanks Chaitali.
I always felt like it wasn’t fair that I had to go back to work just when the babies were getting little personalities! So nice you get the summer off again. He’s so cute, I could just eat him up!
He really has started to develop his personality in just the past couple of weeks, which is one of the things that’s making going back that much harder.
Oh, gosh. I so feel for you. I remember when I had to go back to work after 8 weeks and I was a blubbering mess. I wish the US offered more in terms of maternity leave; it’s really sad to have to leave your little ones so early. That being sad, with time, it does get easier. Just be easy on yourself as you make the transition!
Thanks for the support, Lisa.
The smiling! I was trying to figure out what made little man look more “grown up” as of late and it is definitely the smiles 🙂
He has definitely started to look more grown up with all of the smiling that he’s been doing over the past couple of weeks.
Aww! those little early smiles are the best! Going back to work is really hard. I spent my first day back at work (7 years ago), imagining what he was doing each moment. Do you have pictures of him at work? Can Dad send you videos through the day? I don’t know if you are breast feeding, or pumping, but be warned, if you are, seeing a picture of the baby will make you lactate and it will hurt. I’m sorry if it’s TMI, but I wish somebody would have told me that.
I really miss being able to hold my little guy in my arms, when he was so small and wasn’t all squirmy. And those gummy smiles are so wonderful! I tried to absorb as much as them as I could… then I blinked and he turned 7!
I have put together a couple of pictures of him to put on my desk at work. I’m sure I’ll spend quite a bit of time just staring at him.
You’re so lucky to have had these months, and who knows what the future will bring? For now, definitely look forward to summer. It’ll be here before you know it!
I hope the time between now and the end of June just flies by!
I can’t believe it’s been 3 months. He’s changed so much from the first pictures, and I can tell he’s absorbing a lot of the world. I don’t know how mom’s go back to work because there are certainly days I don’t want to leave home because Allie wants me to stay and cuddle.
He’s definitely changed quite a bit.
as crazy as this may sound I miss the newborn, super small neediness. my little guy is 7 months and getting more and more independent every day, of course the new things and the not needing me every 3 seconds is great! i hope you have a smooth transition back to work 🙂
Thanks Josephine.
Love all the photos, especially the Mickey Mouse outfit.
After my daughter was born, I missed the afternoon naps the most when I returned to work. It really hit me how tired I was when I had to go back to 9 hours at the restaurant. Those late nights killed me. But I’m sure your schedule is way different that midnight restaurant hours.
Best wishes for a seamless transition.
Our schedule will involve the alarm going off at 4am everyday, which I’m not looking forward to at all.
Oh noooooo! That’s a tough schedule. Best of luck sweetie.
In Canadian, we are so blessed with a full year of maternity leave! I got to spend 12 months home with both girls! I totally miss that time we had together and cherish our weekends, long weekends (like this easter weekend) and take all the snuggles when I can get them.
Oh how I wish I could spend a full year at home with him!
This is the one thing I’m dreading. Although I love my job, it’s going to be hard to leave him at home without me all day! I’m glad you were able to enjoy all 12 weeks with him at home!
Its definitely very bittsersweet. Thank goodness I enjoy my job (most days).
Gosh he is just so adorable! And while I’m sure the transition will be difficult, just think of the entire summer you get to spend with him!!!! and hopefully no icy sidewalks 😉
If there are icy sidewalks during the summer then we have a very serious problem in this area.
lol – nothing about this weather lately surprises me!
Oh the snuggles are the best!!
Good luck to you on Monday. Going back to teaching with a child is HARD. Not to sure you, but on top of the guilt of not being around your child all day, just be prepared that it’s so hard to teach the way you did before having a child. Im only just now finding my groove with everything, and it’s been all school year! I just wanted to tell you that because no one really prepared me for the difficulty-getting-all-the-teaching-stuff-done aspect of going back.
I’ve felt so out of sorts at school the last two days. Hopefully I’ll start to find my rhythm again sooner than later.
that mickey mouse jacket is the cutest!!!
best of luck on Monday, it will be hard but he will be in good hands!
Thanks Juliana. He’s definitely been enjoying his time with his daddy the past two days.