Working while on Maternity leave
I have a unique situation with working after I give birth. I currently work for a very small company that relies upon me for a lot things because I’m very organized, work quickly and efficiently and apparently, nobody else knows how to properly use Excel or our ancient printer. I am the only “working” person in our household, so I know that I don’t have the option to not go back to work for a year or 6 months like some lucky ass bitches. (Hubz is veteran and finding it VERY difficult to find work right now.)
They haven’t spoken about getting me a temporary replacement or an intern. I know that when I go into labor, my duties will be haphazardly passed out to the 2 other women in the office that often dabble in duties beyond their department (much like me). I don’t want that because things will definitely slip through the cracks, they already have a bunch on their plates and I will have a cluster-fuck to come back to.
So, my bosses have hinted that they would like me to work from home as much as possible after I give birth. Obviously, I will need 2-5 days post birth to physically recover, but after that, I will be able to prop up with a laptop and a sleeping/feeding baby and do a few hours of work a day.
Hubz is a full-time student and will be home to help as much as possible so I know that he can give me a couple hours at a time to do the work I need to do.
PROS:
-Still making full pay while on “leave” so we can use the two months of pay that we saved up for stuff for the baby
-Have less work to come back to after 6-8 weeks
-Working from home and still getting bonding time with baby
-Look like a rockstar to my bosses
CONS:
-Stress of making sure that I get a couple of hours a day to do work
-Worry about not being “good enough” at the mom/career thing so early
-Worry about screwing up at work and looking like a failure
-Worry about not spending enough time with baby/Hubz
I made a list of duties that I feel comfortable doing while I’m gone and those that I do not. I’m mostly afraid of time-sensitive materials like contracts. I don’t want to be scrambling for my laptop while cleaning up spit up. I know this is a great opportunity for us to still earn money and have me home for the baby. I know that they are flexible and very forgiving, but somehow, I still feel guilty for not being able to dedicated 110% attention to the baby and I’m a bit angry/resentful that I won’t be able to take a lot of time off to recover.
Anybody got advice?
