After having my babies, I returned to the same job I had before motherhood upended my life. While the quality of my work is the same, just about everything else in my professional life changed when I crossed the threshold from single woman to working mom.
Here are the top 13 ways I'm different at work now that I'm a mom:
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1. I spend my downtime researching summer camps for my kids
Instead of finding fun weekend getaways for me and my friends.
2. I take time off to go to school picnic or PT conferences
Not to sneak off for a massage during lunch.
3. I carry my phone with me everywhere in case the nanny or the school calls.
4. When I see an unknown number, I don't ignore it
I freak out in case something happened to one of my kids.
5. I sometimes arrive at work with a soggy Cheerio stuck to my pants.
6. My office is decorated with pictures of my kids and the stuff they made for me
Not breathtaking seascapes from some far-flung locale.
7. The most exhausting thing I do professionally is not overseas travel or a four-hour conference call
It's Bring Your Kids to Work Day!
8. There's now a breast pump in my lower left-hand drawer
Instead of a change of clothes in case we go out right after work.
9. Business trips no longer sound exciting or glamorous
It sounds like torture to arrange all the childcare and logistics involved in leaving my children for a few days.
10. A tough morning has nothing to do with oversleeping or losing my car keys
Now it involves losing my temper when my 4-year-old refuses to put on his shoes.
11. Lunch hour is not spent catching up with girlfriends or meeting my husband for lunch
Now I run to Target for swim diapers or children's Tylenol.
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12. When I'm texting on my phone at work, I'm not trying to organize a happy hour get-together with my girlfriends
Now I'm texting with the nanny about whether the kids can get a doughnut for National Doughnut Day.
13. On Monday mornings, I don't gossip about all the concerts I saw or sleeping I did
I talk about play dates, music classes and trips to the park.
