One of the hardest things to do after you have children is to go back to work. It’s not that the idea of being in an office again is a bad one, it’s just that the idea of being away from your children can feel very overwhelming. As mothers, it’s not easy to go back to work and start again. Well, it feels like it starts again.
But as people, it’s exactly what we have to do to be able to fit back into our lives. The routine that work brings isn’t the same one as you get when the kids are at home with you. In fact, when the kids are at home with you, there is no routine. But once you have them safely ensconced in childcare, you now get to rediscover yourself and get your career back again. For some people, it’s not massively important to get their careers back after they have children, but for others it’s everything and there’s nothing wrong with either of those scenarios. The trouble is knowing where to find your feet again after you put the kids back into childcare. Let’s take a look at what you should do before you go back to work after parental leave.
- Get to know your rights. When you are returning to the workplace, you need to speak to your human resource department and your old boss so that you can understand your rights on returning. A good employer will make sure that you are aware of your legal rights in the workplace and the advantages available to you when it comes to parental leave. Not all employers are great though, so make sure that you have ironed out every wrinkle before you go back to work and throw yourself into an environment you really don’t want to be in.
- Make sure that you have a flexible plan in place. When you are on parental leave from work, your job is still available to you, although filled temporarily. This means that your employer needs to put together a solid plan for you to go back to the workplace and feel like a part of the team again. It should be flexible as well, considering that you will have childcare, pickups, and drop-offs and you might not have anybody to do those for you.
- Keep in touch with your employer and your child’s babysitter. Whether they’ve gone into childcare for setting or you have a babysitter at home, you have to keep in touch with them throughout the day. Your employer should be aware of this. The way that you handle yourself as you go back into the office is going to take some time to transition because you’re going to have to get yourself out of parent mode and into work mode. Of course, you’re a parent 100% of the time, whether you are at work or not, but you understand what we mean.
- Explore how you feel. There’s every chance you’re going to feel guilty when you go back to work, or you’re going to feel upset with the arrangement and wish that you could be at home with your child, and that’s only natural. However, it’s always good for your child to see you achieve, and that means you need to embrace the fact that you have the ability to go back to work and you are in a fortunate position to be able to do so. One day those children are going to grow up and the career that you have right now is going to set you up for the future.
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 