Abhay's working mom!

I’m all set to resume work from tomorrow and I find myself both nervous and excited at the same time. It is with a mixed feeling that I put on my black coat again, not sure if I still have it in me and not certain if I’ll still enjoy practicing law again, after a gap of three and half years! These three years have taught me that there is much more to life than your career, there is much more to parenting than routine responsibilities like feeding your kid, bathing him and putting him to sleep, and there is so much more to see in the world, if you take the time off to see it!!! Having said that, I’d be lying if I say that I didn’t feel the urge to get out of home and drive into something that resembled a workspace as opposed to driving to a park or a grocery store with my son! I’d be lying if I say that I wasn't exactly thrilled at having to introduce myself as a “stay at home mom”! I’d be lying if I say that I didn’t feel insecure looking at the Facebook profiles of some of my working friends!:-) As I try to understand whether this urge to work is driven by my insecurity or a genuine desire for a calling of my own, I also realized that this is as much a big change for me as it is for Abhay. It means that Abhay will not have his mom pick him up as he gets off his school bus, or his mom take him to the music class or the park, or have his mom hound him for freshening up or finishing his milk….and now as I write this …I’m not sure if he’ll miss his mom at all!!

Anyway, I wanted Abhay to understand what his mom was up to and went looking for a book on working mothers. Considering that many moms juggle between work and kids today, I had expected to see quite a few books on the same subject but my search yielded dismal results. After a lot of legwork and with a little help from my friend Deepa (another working mom), I found “Pepper and Mama’s new job” from the situational story series centered on a puppy named Pepper. It’s mom’s first day at work and she has arranged for Pepper to be dropped off at Little Angels Daycare center after school. Pepper initially protests but realizes that he has no choice as he cannot be left alone at home. Visibly upset, Pepper asks his mom as to why she needs to work (good question!) Pepper’s mom explains that mama likes to work just as he likes to go school. Anyway, when in school, Pepper confides in his friend Jean about having been enrolled into the Little Angels day care, Jean looks excited. Jean admits that it is the same day care that she goes to after school and as Pepper discovers, so do many of his friends who all have moms working as teachers, banking officials, architects, etc. When Pepper’s mom picks him up, she discovers that he had a great time after all and even looked forward to spending time in the day care when his mama is at work. Here’s hoping Abhay has the same experience too when his mama goes to work tomorrow!