Back to work

Returning to the office after a four month maternity leave was a piece of cake.

Probably because there wasn't any real work for me to do. I begged IT to help me crack the passwords on my new iMac, attended to informational meetings, raided the office supply closet for pens, pencils and staples, said hello to a bunch of people (3 of whom are pregnant!) and pumped 12 ounces of milk. Not exactly a model of productivity, but the day went by in a flash.

The agency is in the midst of a massive reorganization, so I don't know who I will be working for what I'll be working on. Apparently everyone will know more by week's end.

Have a baby, take the summer off

WSJ's The Juggle blog asks if parents planned their pregnancies so they could have a spring or summer baby and take their maternity leave when it's nice outside.

In a word, yes. I didn't plan ahead with baby #1. She was a planned pregnancy, but it was more like yes, we're ready to get pregnant. We didn't think about when that baby might be born. So Z was born in November, which I learned from the folks at Prentice Women's Hospital (aka Chicagoland's Baby Factory) is their slowest month for deliveries. I guess couples aren't all that swept away by the romance of Valentine's Day.

My first maternity leave took place during Chicago's coldest months, so save for a trip to Hawaii, we spent it largely indoors, cuddling on the couch and watching DVD marathons of The OC and the Gilmore Girls.

Knowing that I'd have a toddler to entertain while I cared for a newborn, I decided maternity leave #2 would need to take place in the playground months. We aimed for May and scored a July baby.

And it turned out even better than I hoped. We've put lots of miles on our double stroller, we're regulars at our favorite parks, and I got to be around for Z's transition to preschool. We never felt cooped up at home and I didn't have to resort to videos to keep Z out of trouble as I nursed, burped and wiped my way through the last three months.

I return to work in a week!

My dance card is full

In the next 2 1/2 weeks before I return to work, I have the following penciled, penned and Sharpied onto my calendar:

• Pumpkin-picking in Palos Park with our entire playgroup and their families
  
• A visit from our old friend Beth B, who's in town for a wedding
  
• A visit from my cousin, who's in town to see The Decemberists
• A visit from my sister and her 5-month-old baby Eliza
  
• Z's preschool class Halloween party
• Z's preschool family Halloween party
• Our neighborhood Halloween block party
• Trick-or-treating on Halloween day
  
• Z's 3rd birthday party at home
  
• Z's birthday celebration at school
  
• Two birthday parties for other little kids
• "Observation" at Z's school (a Montessori version of the parent-teacher conference)
• Baby A's first day at daycare

Here's to hoping my job will be a little less chaotic than my maternity leave.

Shout out to Mr. Mom

You don't hear a lot about what happens when the woman who brings home the bacon stays home to fry it up. About how her work-at-home husband has to deal with her burning said bacon and setting off the smoke alarm.

Because that's kind of what's been going on at the House of Klein. I've stepped out of my agency life for a few months of breast-feeding, midweek playdates and household chores. I've picked up many of the tasks that I'd handed off to my man over the past couple of years, and while I can still grocery shop, sort the laundry and load the dishwasher with the best of them, I don't do it his way. The man has systems.

So while I'm not going to learn all his tips and tricks before I have to return to the working world, I'm tipping my hat to the guy I married. The man who will take back the diaper bag and take over preschool drop-offs and daycare pick-ups. Who will be warming bottles and scheduling playdates. Making dinner and texting me "WHEN WILL U B HOME?" "STATUS?" "SOMEONE NEEDS MOMMY."

Take your baby to work day

One of the great pleasures of maternity leave is the pilgrimage to the office to show off the baby. Josh and I took Baby A to the Green City Market this morning, and on the way there it occurred to me that while in the city I should stop by work to say hello. Never mind that my face was bare and I hadn't bothered to put my newborn in anything fancier than an old white onesie.

It was great seeing so many familiar, friendly faces. I'm lucky to work with really wonderful people, all of whom were delighted to squeeze baby cheeks and ooh and ahh over her tiny size.

And how often do we get to breeze into work at 10:30, socialize for an hour or so, and breeze right back out the door without so much as flipping on our desktop machines? (I couldn't anyway, IT seems to have taken my computer away!)

While I can't imagine returning to work before my baby's a little older, my stomach's a little flatter and everyone's sleeping a little better, I got a taste for the good stuff I'm missing when I stopped into a new business pitch meeting. I love the challenge of solving marketing problems in creative new ways, and the product being pitched was one that interests me. But for now I'll have to exercise my creative muscles by coming up with new and inventive ways to make a delicious, nutritious dinner while nursing a baby and entertaining a wound-up 2 year old.

Maternity leave

Today is my last day in the office for at least three months, maybe four. I had planned to work through Friday, but with labor seeming somewhat imminent, I think it's prudent to wrap things up and head home to stock up on sleep. Besides, it seems I've lost my mind and my productivity has taken a nose dive. Maybe that's my brain pressing down on my pelvis?

I'm really looking forward to this maternity leave. I feel like the timing couldn't be better. I'll get to enjoy my two children and all that Oak Park and the greater Chicago area have to offer in the summertime, and I'll be around for Z's transition into preschool this September. But best of all, I'll get to enjoy the company of two other working moms whose maternity leaves coincide with mine! It's a far cry from my first maternity leave. Z was born just as winter settled in. The neighbors were inside, the parks were empty, and until I attended a new moms group at Parenthesis, I didn't know any other women in my position.

I feel lucky that we can swing a couple of months of unpaid leave. Plenty of women head back to work shortly after giving birth because they can't afford not to. As I've mentioned on this blog before, I hope paid family leave becomes an issue in the upcoming election. As it stands, the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in a McGill University survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave. The others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea.