Back at it, with a big difference!

My account of my first week back at work as a new working mum.

Day 1

Somehow, managed to get up at 5.30am *insert shocked face here* despite having probably about 4 hours of sleep in total.  Day got off to a smooth start because I got the bright idea to pack all our bags from the night before. Riri’s dad and I walk Riri to her nursery and there was not a tear in sight. Result! The reason for this is because we had her start about 6 weeks before I was due back at work to make it as painless as possible for all involved. So again, result! The work day itself was a team meeting starting at 9am; trying to work through 4200 emails (yes, not just deleting them); chatting to the team about my life in the past year several times over; dealing with HR (story for another post methinks); and of course, the obligatory usual first day back IT issues . Oh, and I got my stationery stash!

Day 2

Pretty much the same, except that on the way back home the trains decided that I was going to be late getting to nursery to pick up my daughter. I left work on time and what would normally be a 25-30 minute journey took me over an hour. Imagine the stress levels as a first time parent having your child being the last one at nursery because you were late. Thankfully, I was on the DLR (Docklands Light Rail, for out of towners) and was able to call the nursery to tell them what what happening. What had actually happened was that there was a defective train and so there we were just sitting on the tracks in between stations. After an eternity or what seemed like it,  we were cleared to go back to the previous station so we could be let off and travel by alternative means. Just great! As I was contemplating whether it would be quicker/easier to get a cab, a bus which I vaguely remembered as going through the route of the nursery was approaching. Cue google maps journey planner, it confirmed that this would be a 20 minute bus ride from my current location. I can live with that. I got to the nursery at 6.02 only to see that the trains were now running again (aaargh) but also that I was not the only one who was running late and therefore, Riri would not be traumatized forever that she was left at nursery after hours (phew!). Surely, I wont be getting charged the late pick up fees? hmmm, let’s see how that pans out.

Day 3

With all my emails filed or deleted, I could be let loose on some actual work. Day was relatively uneventful but I somehow got roped in to going to a gym class with a group of my other colleagues on Friday. Fridays are ‘bring a friend day’; a clever marketing tactic so that you’d start getting the emails and messages to sign up and become a member. Yes, they do ask for your details as you arrive to sign in.

Day 4

I’m not actually at work on this day because I am having a phased return. So this is mummy and Riri day at home. I honestly already started to forget how involved looking after a 1 year old for the day is. Haha, not really. But for those who imagined that I would be having some sort of rest day at home, I’m seriously side-eyeing you. Though I must admit, it was nice not to have to rush out of the house by 8am.

Day 5

Fri-yay! I made it to the end of the week!! The day was chilled-ish having dealt with a couple of urgent stuff much earlier on in the day. I attended the gym as a “friend” and we went to a class which was all about stretches and balancing the body. It was a very relaxing end to a “not quite as stressful as it could have been” week. The class was so good that I’ve decided to go again. As a friend, of course.

I survived week one on my new working mummy schedule and I am so proud of myself. Now I just have to post about it.

xx

Milolo