Warm Welcome Back at Work

I may have had mixed feelings about going back to work, or at least the timing of my return, but the transition was thankfully smooth.  Having an au pair at home meant I could kiss the kids goodbye while they were in the middle of breakfast and leave them with someone they already knew and trusted and with whom they already had an established routine.  Fifteen minutes later I walked into my office building and thought I could slip quietly to my desk as if three months away had not just passed by. 

My co-workers were not going to let that happen though.  They had decorated my cubicle with balloons, streamers, handmade pinwheels, "welcome back" posters in three languages (English, German and Chinese) and best of all, pictures of my kids they had lifted from Facebook.  On my desk sat a vase of flowers and two boxes of Mojo Monkey donuts, whose aromas competed with each other throughout the day.  When I logged onto my computer, I saw that news of our expanded family was the top "story" on the Intranet. 

I laughed at how many people excitedly announced, "You came back!" when they saw me.  These remarks reminded me of my second (and third and fourth) day on the new job over three years ago when my co-workers, who had once experienced a new hire quit before the first day was even finished, were just thrilled that I had kept coming back.  And there I was being congratulated for returning from maternity leave and feeling in a lot of ways like a new employee all over again.  I had to get used to getting up early again, being somewhere on time and getting caught up on all the projects I had missed while I was gone.  The big difference is that I felt like I was coming home.  And I knew where the bathroom was an had someone to eat lunch with!

The hardest part about my return to work has not been the work at all, but rather post-work.  I had forgotten how challenging the limited hours are between the return home from work and bedtime.  I need to make dinner, clean up and get the kids ready for bed.  And there's usually some chore I need to finish before lights out for the kids, like vacuuming or putting clothes away.  These few hours are usually loud and stressful, and they were chaotic when we had just two children, the whole experience is amplified with four.  I like the balance working outside the home provides in my life, but this is the time of day leaving me feeling rather unbalanced. 

The kids have handled my return to work well.  I think they have a great routine going with Marcel and oddly enough, having me gone for the day but coming home every afternoon has provided Soren with consistency.  The clinginess I experienced with him during my of my leave has subsided, aside from extra snuggling in the early morning.  I still worry about Kiera and Matteo's attachment and speech development, but other working adoptive moms have assured me that even if progress develops at a slower pace, it will happen.