Four years before having Jackson, I made the bold decision to quit my day job to work full-time on Caitlin Flemming Design and Sacramento Street. I have never looked back. I love being able to determine my own destiny and use my creativity in a variety of ways each and everyday. That being said, when Jackson was born, my priorities completely changed. I knew there would be a shift but not this big. I was now responsible for the well-being of this perfect angel, and that has taken precedence ever since he was born.
I was able to take three months off from work when Jackson was born. Now this wasn’t a normal maternity leave where I dropped everything. I promised myself I would take a month off from it all – work, emails, you name it. After that I slowly came out of the 5 – 6 week new motherhood haze and worked on small tasks – keeping up on emailing clients, working on scheduling fun partnerships for when I fully went back to work in March. This gave me three months with Jackson.
Being able to spend that time with him is something I will always cherish. I was also able to adjust to the lack of sleep and figure out how we were going to do this thing called parenthood. One thing I’m grateful I did during this time was bond with other mothers that were going through the same dilemmas about going back to work. I realized that in the end it was all going to be about trial and error. That’s kind of what this parenting gig is all about.
When I knew it was time to return to work I felt apprehensive and nervous about someone else taking care of my son. I quickly realized that for me, having a nanny was going to work better than daycare. Since I work out of my home, I thought that being able to see Jackson throughout the day would make the transition easier and we wanted to bring him up in a house where we spoke two languages. As it’s turned out, it was the perfect decision. I get to see him all of the time, but my nanny (whom we love as a member of our family) keeps him busy with trips to museums, music classes, messy play and constant visits to the park. She’s a saint and I can tell you that without her I’m not sure what I would do. She’s enabled me to go into my workday worry-free because I know that they are going to have a blast doing their own thing.
Now, there is always going to be a part of me that would love to be a stay at home mom and enjoy every single moment with him, but that’s just not feasible financially. And at the end of the day, I have found I’m much more productive in my work because I know I have less time to devote to it than before having a baby. I work hard and when I’m finished I can feel free to play with him as much as I want. It’s not easy, but I wouldn’t trade any single part of it!
Also, be sure to check out the rest of the Real Talk, Real Moms posts. I’m headed over now to take in all of their knowledge – I’ve linked to them below.
Photos by Delbarr Moradi from our family holiday shoot