Do you ever feel as a working mama that you can totally handle everything until something totally unexpected throws you for a loop? Like you are doing really well, have a good schedule figured out, then someone gets an ear infection and you have to take off work and get them over to the doctor. You get medicine, keep them home for the day and BAM kid #2 has a fever now. You know as a mom you’ve been there – you see that daycare number come up on your cell phone and you get a pit in your stomach. Usually you are smack dab in the middle of an important meeting. You think about ignoring it (and sadly, I have) but trust me, it’s inevitable – they’ll find you. Unfortunately there goes another day of work and another trip to the doctors.
The worst is when someone gets something really contagious, like the dreaded stomach bug, and it becomes a torturous waiting game to see who the next unlucky person is while you make everyone chug ridiculous amounts of grape juice because there is an outside chance that might prevent it.
If you have more than one kid this cycle of random illnesses can mean multiple days off of work, and it always seems to happen in the middle of deadlines or a big meeting. So yes, I get it, I’m lucky I’m just talking minor recoverable illnesses here but they still can significantly cut into work hours.
Women’s black skirt • animal print top • high heels
I’m lucky that I work for a place where I get a good amount of sick and even dependent care days, and even have the flexibility of working from home if need be. Unfortunately, not everyone is that lucky, and even if they are there is still work to be done and deadlines to make which can’t happen when your sitting at home sick and caring for other sick people. Trust me when I say that these illnesses and appointments always happen at the most inconvenient times. Don’t even get me started on snow days and random half days or other holidays, and then inevitably the family dog falls ill in the midst of it all as well.
Before I had kids this wasn’t even something that crossed my mind when it came to understanding what my colleagues were dealing with. I hate to admit this – but I kind of judged moms for being late for meetings, working from home, or taking what seemed like excessive time off. Now I want to go back and tell explain to my pre-kid self how hard it was for these moms to juggle everything, when all I had going on after work was the gym and Netflix not taking care of ab inconsolable baby with a fever.
This came up today as my husband and I are trying to juggle meetings, travel, and some necessary doctors appointments. In the end we were able to make it work, but that’s not always the case.
I guess my message hear is be KIND to your colleagues. Moms, Dads, pet-parents – you have no idea what is going on with everyone else before they walk through the door. Not that anyone should have an excuse for being late, slacking off, or missing deadlines but sometimes it happens – and I would guess our colleagues and staff would be more productive overall if given the opportunity to care for their loved ones without stressing over what they are missing at the office.
Love this yellow dress, it can easily be made casual or dressed up, and is super comfortable. I paired it with my favorite shoes!
I am also really into this animal print top – looks great under a black blazer, or can be more casual with jeans or white pants! It makes a boring black suit a lot more fun! But hurry and grab it – there are limited sizes left!
The skirt is reasonably priced, and guess what – it has pockets!
The shoes are also super fun and come in a variety of colors
