Welcome back to the My Mountain series – where guest bloggers share their biggest parenting challenges and how they face them. Today I’m sharing a post from Chloe who blogs at Beautiful Bundle Of Chaos on a topic very close to my heart.
Even the most determined mothers still have the daunting task of returning work, your 9 month old baby just looks too small to leave, you’ve just about got your routine perfect and now it’s all about to change.
A lot of things changed for me when I announced to work that I was pregnant, I remember them being so off with me I cried for the whole day sat at my desk. I kind of knew my relationship with them had just changed for good, and I wasn’t sure why, I’m a woman and I can, and I will have children when I want to.
I decided to return to work full time – 5 days a week 9-5. I don’t really know what I was thinking, it was so difficult to do a full working week, keep the house tidy and fridge full and spend time with my baby girl. So I dropped 1 day and worked Monday-Thursday, so I could at least spend Fridays with my daughter. She had to go to nursery as both our parents work so that was costing me an absolute fortune.
It only dawned on me a while ago that most of my friends with children have only returned to work 2-3 days a week!
Over winter Lola got poorly a lot (including a lovely dose of chicken pox), she constantly picked stuff up from Nursery and had to have days off, especially if she was sick, she wasn’t allowed to return for 48 hours. Of course in a working environment that’s just not ideal but what are you supposed to do if you’re the only person that can care for your child in the week? I was left feeling guilty about being at home caring for my sick child, or I would send her to nursery when she should of probably been at home and I was left feeling guilty that I wasn’t with her.
Either way I just couldn’t win.
One day they called me into the office and told me I was having too much time off whether it was me sick or Lola and that I needed to sort it out. Sort it out? Ok… as a mother how do you prevent your child from being sick? As the only parent available to be there in the week who the hell else do I get to look after her? I asked them ‘Don’t you have children? What did you do when they were sick? Who looked after them?’ Their wives of course.
I want to have another baby this year, and you want to know the one thing that’s holding me back?
Work.
That was the final straw for me, I vowed to never let anyone make me feel guilty for looking after my own child, if they want to sack me, they can. I’m working hard at running my own business from home right now and when the time is right I will tell them exactly how they have made me feel, and quite frankly that they should be ashamed of themselves.
I don’t need to see eyeballs rolling when she has a doctor’s appointment, when I take holiday to see her nursery play, or when I have to leave early because the nursery have rang and she’s hurt herself.
I don’t get paid for taking any time off with Lola, so believe me I could really do with not having to have that week off for chicken pox right before bill week – it’s not by choice.
Employees have no right to make mothers/parents feel guilty, and I feel that more flexibility should be granted to parents with children under a certain age.
Author Bio
Hey Guys! I’m Chloe I’m 23 years old, a wife, a mother and a lifestyle blogger. You’ll see me talking about funny parenting fails, triumphs, days out and of course lots and lots of FASHION! Follow my blog for lots of giggles.
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Do you have a parenting struggle or challenge you’d like to write about? If you’re interested in contributing to the My Mountain series please email me at butterflymum83@gmail.com.
