Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Harder than childbirth

Forget what they say about childbirth being difficult. There's drugs for that and you forget the pain as soon as you hold the little one for the first time. The hardest part of having a kid to date has been the decision of what to do once the 12 weeks of maternity leave is up. For me, that was yesterday.

Since December, we've had daycare planned out and every intention of me going back to work for a great company with great friends. Six weeks into my leave, though, we learned that the daycare we had been planning on wasn't going to have space for Park until January. To Craig's surprise, I took the news well. I guess in the back of my mind I knew something would work out. And it did. We heard several recommendations for another place in town and they happened to have one opening available. We visited a number of times, met the teacher and staff, asked the usual questions and paid the deposit. But even though we liked the people and the program, we just didn't feel like it was what we wanted to do.

So after several weeks of late night talks, number crunching and what if's, we decided to go with our gut. I resigned from SHS and it was the hardest thing to do ... a second time. Having been there and back over a span of 15 years, that place is like a second family. But for now, there's a new addition to this family that I'm focusing on.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Look at him! what a little stinker:) Can't wait to see him soon! He looks good in orange- Aunt Erin

Anonymous said...

Does he look ornery or what!
I really feel for you...know this has not been an easy decision. But one look at his sweet, precious, ornery face makes it all worthwhile. Mimi

Anonymous said...

I know a lot of soul searching went into this decision. But what a great kiddo to stay home with! And it's not the end of your career productivity - there's free-lancing, volunteering and lots more. You must feel relief having got to this place after carefully considering your options.

Anonymous said...

A decision was made, it was not easy.

Most moms today have a difficult time weighting the pro and cons of returning to work.

Yours was different. You love your work and the people. But you also love being a mom, you never imagined how much til you had to
make the decision of leaving Park.

Not seeing and capturing daily events and accomplishments first hand was a hard thing to accept.

The decision to be made was hard and even harder to let your friends know. I am sure many of them have been in your place and do understand the torment you went though. One day perhaps you can return to the workplace you love, but right now your workplace is full of smiles, giggles and a love you can not replace.

All love and much fun goes out to you each day.

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