3 months old & I'm officially a working mother

March 1st marked Ruth Ann's 3 month old birthday. This was also our friend Betsy Brown's 1st birthday, so we got our party outfit on and went to celebrate with our friends at the Brown's house. We had so much fun visiting with our friends and celebrating Betsy's birthday.

March 2nd was not as much fun...especially not for me. This marked my entry into the world of being a working mother. Most of you who talked with me regularly throughout my maternity leave know that I was ready to return to work. I found during my 12 week leave that I'm not cut out to be a stay at home mom. I'll be the first to preach to all the husbands that don't appreciate their wives who stay home that being home is MUCH harder than going to work. I believe this for several reasons....

1. At work you are given a task which you can complete and then forget about it...not at home. The windows always get dirty again, the clothes always have to be washed again, dishes have to be washed again, bottles have to washed again, clothes have to be put away again and list goes on and on. I constantly felt like I wasn't getting anything done because I kept doing the same things every day!

2. At work you have co-workers who can talk to you. Although I love Ruth Ann, many of you know I also love conversation and she couldn't meet this need with her limited (or non-existent) vocabulary.

3. No salary for the stay at home mom...or commissions!

4. 9-5pm versus 24-7

I could go on and on about the reasons why I was ready to go back to work, but when Monday morning rolled around and I had to leave my baby girl who I have spent every day with for the last 3 months in someone else's hands....it was more awful than I could have imagined! I'm lucky to have family members keeping her, but it was still hard to turn around and leave her behind for 8 hours. I cried as I drove to work and then was welcomed back by all my co-workers who wanted to know how I was feeling...of course this led to more tears. By the afternoon I was much better and thanks to my co-workers I left 45 mins. early to go pick up Ruth Ann. Tuesday & Wednesday both went fine and now more than ever I appreciate my part time schedule since I get to spent 4 days of the week at home!