Working From Home with a Baby
Grace shares her experience being a full time employee and full time mom at the same time.
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I first went back to work right after the new year when Parker was almost 3 months old. I was nervous but excited to have something to do again that was just for me. Child care was not an option for us so we knew we had to make it work with me working from home while momming at the same time.
The first few months were pretty easy actually. Parker would just hang out in her bouncer next to me or lay on her mat on the floor playing with her little gym. She was still breastfeeding and not doing solids yet which made feedings faster than they are now. She also was still sleeping a decent amount during the day, so I could get a lot done while she was napping. As Parker started getting older and learning more, it got much harder to work from home with her. She was rolling all over the place and starting to figure out how to crawl. We had baby proofed the office, but there are always things babies can get into, so watching her while I worked became more difficult. I got a playpen for the office when Parker was about 8 months old and that has been great for the most part. I have specific toys that are only in there so she only plays with them when she’s contained. My hope was to make them more exciting and special when she only got to see them during the week when she was in the playpen. Some days she does awesome in the playpen and other days she screams bloody murder if I try to put her in there. It all just depends on her mood and how the day is going. She used to do great sitting on my lap but now that she’s older she’s pretty squirmy and constantly tries to slam on my keyboard. She does squeal and wave to my coworkers when she sees them on video calls though which is pretty adorable. My boss and my team are very supportive of our situation and always understand if she’s in a meeting with me or if I need to step away for a bit to take care of her. They also check in with me often to make sure I’m ok with my workload and not getting overwhelmed, which is amazing.
Now that Parker’s one, we’re starting to drop her second nap, making it much harder for me to try to work since she’s awake for more of the day. She also is so fun and doing so much that I just want to hang out with her and focusing on work is difficult sometimes. Some days she can play independently just fine, and other days she’s a stage 5 clinger and just wants to be on me all day. It’s such a challenge because some days are really, really hard and I feel like a bad mom or a bad employee. I really can’t give either 100% of my full attention and that is really hard for me. I want to be the best mom I can be of course, but I also feel very fortunate to have a job that I value and I want to do a good job. She is my number one priority, so when she’s having a hard day, work has to wait until I can get to it. Most days I am extremely drained by the end of the day. I have myself a little mom meltdown probably at least once a week, but it’s ok.
Luckily my husband, Cody, has pretty flexible work hours. His schedule can be so unpredictable being in the real estate business though. Some days he’s able to get home around 11 or 12 and finish his day working at home and other days he’s busy in the office or showings pop up and he can’t get home until 4 or 5. He does always try to get home as early as he can to try to lighten my load though which I really appreciate.
It kind of seems like no matter what the situation is it’s hard. Being strictly a stay at home mom would be hard, her going to daycare and not seeing her as much sounds hard, and having a nanny sounds hard because I would just want to come downstairs with them and Parker. I’m not sure how to win in this scenario but just know if you’re struggling with this too, you’re not alone!
