About Me

Here I am at month 4 of my maternity leave from my job at General Mills. I always thought that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. No work stress...can you imagine? I could lead a life filled with things I wanted to do! I could play with my kid all day, take her to the zoo, cook nutritious meals, take the dog for long walks...it would be perfect! And, I'm sure the weather would be 70 and sunny every single day. And, Amelia would never, ever cry. She'd only smile at me and giggle. And, life would be great!

And, when I hit the 3 month mark, I remember thinking how hard it would have been to go back to work then. The baby was sleeping well through the night, so I would have been OK sleep-wise, but she was still so darn tiny! She smiled, cooed and reached out to bat at things, but other than that, couldn't really do much.

As I said, here we are at 4 months, and I've changed my tune a bit. I am not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. We go to Cub or Target almost every day so that I can get out of the house. And, those are great trips...don't get me wrong! Lia looks all around and I show her the groceries as I put them in my cart. "Look at this eggplant, Lia! Do you think we should buy it? Do you? Do you think we should? Yeaaaaaaaahhhhhh...we should!" She smiles and giggles. She doesn't understand eggplants. And, there's one Cub employee who just loves Lia. He comes over and very carefully, touches her face as she sleeps.

But, I need more in my life than Target. I miss the daily adult interaction; my friends. I miss the challenge of my job. Balancing multiple deadlines. Troubleshooting. Resolving conflict. Fixing a problem and truly making someone's day. Not to mention the paycheck.

I probably won't remember any of this as I drop Lia off at daycare on 3/17, my first day back to work. I'm sure I'll be crying and I'll get to work an hour later than I'd planned with my big, puffy, red eyes. And, all I'll be able to think about is all the fun we've had! Going to Cub. Going to Target. Long walks with Jazzmine. Reading books. Naps together. Cuddling. Playdates. And, when I call daycare to see how she's doing and they tell me that she's sad, I'll race right over and pick her up.

But, in the end, I am wired to work both at home and out of our home. I think I'll just be happier that way.  And, Lia will be better for it too.