As we entered our ninth month of working at home due to Covid-19, I wanted to share my experience as a mom and professional, getting through this change to our typical day to day lives. I want to start by saying that I am grateful that I am employed and have a job that I can continue to do from home, which, unfortunately for some, was not an option. Without getting on my soap box, I will keep it short and honest about my experience these past months. This transition has been by far the most frustrating transition with my beautiful 2-year-old boy Santana, period!
Like anyone who works in an office, you develop a routine. I’m going to just speak on my morning routine, which looked like the following before the pandemic; get up, get dressed, get my son dressed, drop him off at his grandmother’s house, and do my cardio (which is power-walking up a hill to the train, praying I catch it.) I say power walk but probably borderline jogging! I used to do my cardio every day before arriving at the office.
After catching up with others on my unit, I really miss that moment when you sit down with your coffee (personally, it’s iced coffee or tea for me) where you just relax and take a moment before starting the actual busy workday. Before I go further, I want to say that I love my son Santana and how he has become my personal alarm clock, but that moment with my iced coffee has, unfortunately, disappeared and turned into a 1 pm mini power nap.
Please do not ask me at what point I do my work; believe me, it gets done. Maybe not during your typical office hours, but I am getting the job done to the best of my ability. Lucky for me, my cardio routine has not been lost. My son has turned my 5-minute run-to-the-train cardio into a five-hour workout- and I’m not making this up. I am moving from when my ‘personal alarm clock’ wakes me up to the time I hit the snooze button on him at his nap time. This ‘terrible twos stage’ is real, but I get it. He is finding his independence, is full of energy, and simply wants to explore (and destroy) everything.
Overall, I am adjusting to our work at home situation and have pretty much accepted that my peaceful mornings are now peaceful afternoons, which I truly appreciate. I am still figuring out a routine that balances my work life with taking good care of my two-year-old son. I realize that I cannot beat myself up, and I work with an awesome team that has been incredibly supportive whether work-related or with personal challenges.
One lesson learned through all of this is to be able to adapt to change. Besides caring for my son during the pandemic, I have also lost two family members and continue to care for other family members. Over these nine months, I have felt the stress and frustration of being overwhelmed, but I’ve realized it’s me fighting the change versus trying to figure out how to make this change work for me.
Lastly and most importantly, I am grateful and blessed to say, Good Morning Santana!
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