Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

Today was my first day back at work.  It was tough leaving the house, but the whole thing wasn't nearly as traumatic as I feared it would be.  At the risk of ending up with the Worst Mother Ever award, it was frankly nice to be able to go to the bathroom when I needed to and to not be drooled on.

I'm actually very, very lucky because I work for the best company in the entire world.  Return Path really focuses on creating an environment that offers the flexible schedules that make work/life balance more than a pretty little catchphrase.  In my case, I'll be working two days in the office and three days from home.  This will allow me to feed Maddie on the days I'm home, so I don't have to pump as much.  This is a huge advantage since it's hard to pump enough to meet her needs and, more to the point, I loathe pumping.  Since it takes roughly the same amount of time to pump as to feed her there's no loss to my overall productivity.  We hired a nanny full-time, so the other babycare duties (changing, playing and so on) will be done by her while I work.  I also save on the commuting time on those days when I'm home.

For her part Maddie seems to know something is a little different in her world, but she seems mostly unfazed.  She was fussy tonight and wanted to be held.  I could tell myself that she "missed" me, but really she's usually fussy and wants to be held at night.

I think this week will be a bit challenging, as we all find our rhythm and get back into the swing.  But once it becomes normal for everyone I think we'll all be fine.