Confession of the Working Mama – Momma Blog Feature

04/22/2017

I am 28 years old and a first time mom to a baby girl who will be a year at the end of April. Where has the time gone? I will have been married for 3 years in the summer. My husbands put up with my crazy ideas for over 10 years though. I am also a crazy dog lover and have 2 fur babies. One is a rescued black lab heeler and the other is a dachshund. They are the goofiest pair of friends. I am  passionate about my family, friends, being outdoors, fun adventures and teaching and inspiring children. I will be returning to work at the beginning of April and will be teaching grade 2 just to add another thing to my crazy life. 

Since this is our first baby, we have found that we have made some mistakes but we have learned even more. My newest challenge will be balancing work, being a mother, and a wife. I hope to inspire and help other moms by sharing my relatable stories. 

Confession of the Working Mama

by Amy Holland

My husband and I made the decision that I would return to work when our daughter was 11 months. It was such a hard decision and every time I thought about it, I would burst into tears. I was so scared that she would forget me. As the date got closer, I felt sick to my stomach about the thought of leaving her. I was so worried I would miss out on important milestones and important moments that I would never get back. I tried to stay positive and to realize that this would be better for us in the long run. I constantly cried to my husband and my mom hoping to feel better. I knew all of my mom friends would be making plans with our group and I would have to decline all of them because I was going back to work. I felt like I was missing out on so much and I was letting our daughter down. It broke my heart.

We are lucky enough that my parents are watching her until the summer time. I am a teacher so I only have to go back to work for 3 months and then I get 2 months off with her over the summer. I have so much respect for people who #1. have to get somebody other than family to watch their baby #2 have to go back earlier than a year and #3 have a job where they don’t get much time to spend with their family. Being a working mama is so challenging! You work so hard during the day and then you have to keep it all together and be strong for your baby after work. You have to keep your energy level up so you have time to clean, make supper, as well as, play your heart out with your little one. Being a mama is tough work! Being a mama is a full-time job never mind throwing another full time job into the mix.

As a teacher, I chose to go into my class early to meet the kids and learn all the routines. I was actually worried that being on leave for almost a year would make me forget how to do my job. As soon as I went into the class, my love for teaching and excitement about my job came rushing back to me. I was excited to pull out all of my nerdy teacher things for my desk and work on designing my classroom. When I officially started, the kids were so excited to see the changes that I had been working so hard to create. This made me so excited and it lit a spark inside me. There is nothing more exciting than seeing the look on a child’s face when they are completely thrilled about something or when they finally understand something that they’ve been struggling to learn.

After a short time in the classroom, I am completely exhausted. My house is not nearly as clean. Our meals are not nearly as fancy and organized but our daughter is happy and she is loved. That’s the most important. We will adjust to the rest. I promise it will get easier. You will find your groove and things will slowly start to fall into place.

My short tips for you:

1. Make freezer/crock pot meals. This will save you a lot of time having to prepare something last minute. I know that this is something that we’re working on.
2. Find a mom friend that can support you every step of the way. It will help more if the mom friend is also working and knows what you’re going through.
3. Enjoy those little moments that you can hold and cuddle your little ones for as long as you can.

I hope that all you working mamas know how special you are!