Going Back to Work Spin-off...

I, too, was excited to go back to work. It was bittersweet because I did miss my girls... but looking back I was much more excited than sad. Actually, the worst part was getting comments from people about how sad I must be and how awful that I had to go back to work and couldn't stay home with my girls. I used all my accumulated leave to stay home for 8 months, and when the time was up I was ready. I missed adult interaction and wanted to engage my brain more.

I have been a stay at home mom and a mommy who works.... Going to work is soooo much easier than staying home all day with the kiddos! I know exactly how your feeling! I was very excited to go back to work. On the other hand my sister has 2 kids and she absolutely didNOT want to go back to work after having her kids. I think everyone is different after they have their babies, but I def needed the time away and even thou my kids are 6 and 4 now, I still need the time away even if it's just going to work.

We are all different, with different needs. I am a happy SAHM, never want to work again, etc. but we are so busy it's hard to long for anything else! We are rarely home, always on the go doing something. It's been eon since I've had a chance to think about work or anything like that. I have a friend who is always asking me if I miss work, I do look at her funny, because, like I said, I'm too busy to worry about this stuff. My mind is racing with the long lists of things i need to get done.

Good for you for knowing what you want.

it wasn't so for me, but then, i didn't love my job and i was almost sick with sorrow at leaving my baby.
BUT....if i had been teaching then, as i am now, i think it would have been very different. i can also see in retrospect how good it was for me to do a 'me thing' even if the me thing wasn't a fun me thing.
i love that you were both wise enough to recognize your own needs, and lucky enough to have a job you appreciated (and could do part-time, which i think is the perfect solution for an awful lot of mothers.)
and SO impressed with you for having the cojones to admit it<G>.
:) khairete
S.

I had a bit of both.
After my 1st child, I felt isolated at home and was happy to go back to work.
After my 2nd child, I had mixed feelings. I was sad because I had a better perspective on how fast the infant phase flies by and how much time I was missing out on spending with him. But I also still really enjoyed my job and do enjoy the social interaction of working.

So I can see both sides.

I also think there is a BIG difference between working full time, and working part time (the best of both worlds- spending lots of time with kiddies, adult interaction, and intellectual. more time for keeping house and running errands)

After my first baby I was not excited to return to part-time work. In fact, I was scheduled to return 12 weeks after he was born and found that I just couldn't do it. It took two more weeks before I could leave him. After my second, however, I was happy to go back to work, at the same job.

I loved working. I think it has to do with what your field is and if you truly enjoy what you are going to be doing the next 8-9 hours when you wake up in the morning.

If you are in a mob you really dislike and dread each day of showing up there then I think it is really hard to do. But if you were a researcher for a cure for cancer and on the brink of some discovery or a teacher that had a class that was like sponges, how cool would that be to go to every day.

I loved my work with people who have developmental disabilities. I enjoyed writing implementation strategies, seeing someone suddenly have a light bulb moment when things became clear, helping them gain even a small amount of independence. I loved going to work and doing my job.

I did not like staying at home and having constant housework, the constant wanting attention because their toys got boring. The crying because they don't want to take a nap, I missed having adult conversations that stimulated my mind and gave me things to contemplate each day. I hated doing the same things over and over and over and them not staying done.

I found that the house stayed clean when no one was home all day to make messes, I liked that we all come home around the same time and had so much to talk about, how we all worked together to get dinner on the table and then went and did stuff like T-Ball or soccer practices. The time we had together in the evenings was just so much more....more. Not just....eat dinner, wait until it's bedtime, give the kids baths, get them to sleep so I can have some adult time with a tired hubby who just wants to do something for himself after a long day.

I enjoyed the whole difference.