Day 28- 29:
I traveled for work this past week for a meeting of all the leaders in my company. Yes, I voluntarily chose to take time away from my newborn and participate in an executive level meeting that was good for my career. There are many who may judge me for this, and I even second guessed myself once or twice. Many have asked- and yes, I believe it was worth it.
First, as I mentioned before my support system is incredible and I had zero concerns with leaving baby with my husband. On a side note, it was amazing to me how many men asked me or just assumed that it was “grandma” watching the baby. Don’t forget I am married to a boss dad, too! My two biggest concerns in preparation for this meeting were the health of myself and baby ( in which case I would have cancelled) and his ability to take a bottle ( which has been a non-issue), so I went into the meeting with zero qualms about the baby.
Almost halfway through maternity leave, I felt like I was experiencing some brain atrophy from lack of use of my dura matter. The meeting jumpstarted my brain a bit and got my neurons firing again. Selfishly, it was a good awakening of my almost dormant career thoughts during my leave as much of the networking involved conversations about future roles, career, and overall company direction. I believe attending the meeting allowed others to see me as a strong and committed (I mean, I did attend while after just having a baby, via C-section no less) and gave me a peak into executive leadership at my company which was a great learning experience.
Yes, I missed snuggling baby and having our special time together, so I ate/drank those feelings with room service and a few drinks at the hotel bar. Joking aside, the meeting also gave me a new appreciation for the time left with baby and I will continue to make the most of it while I can as I have plenty of time to work when I return.
Positive Thought of the Day: Direct flights that minimize my time away from the family. These are few and far between for us, so it was nice to only have to spend one night away from the family but be in meetings for two days.