I miss being a mother

I brought Lucas to work with me today. He is jabbering away as he throws crayons on the floor.

Natasha Colbaugh

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I am lucky to have such an understanding workplace where I can bring in my baby boy, but I really don’t take advantage of it very often.

My son goes to daycare every weekday. He stays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I pick him up and sit in traffic for 30 minutes. When I arrive home I busily cook diner and straiten up the house.

After we have eaten and cleaned up for bed, we have less than 20 minutes for family time before he lays down. As I ponder our schedule it dawns on me that I spend less than two hours a day with my child.

It’s no wonder the woman at daycare said he called her mommy. Oh yea, that really happened. I was so flustered by her comments I didn’t know whether to cry or punch her in the face.

I did the former in the end. So I brought my boy with me today. It was a hard decision to make because I have been conditioned to believe children should not be in a professional setting.

But what is the alternative for the working mom- to have her young child calling another woman mommy. This is not a reasonable thing to ask of a person.

While I want to spend more time with my son there are situations where I just can’t work with my boy clinging to my hip. I tried. On Wednesday I went to Jellico to take pictures of the annual Christmas tree lighting. I made it up there with little problems from the backseat. But as soon as we arrived, Lucas refused to sit happily in his stroller. He cried hysterically to be held.

So I wobbled around with him on my hip, pushing a stroller that was being used to hold all my camera equipment instead of my child.

I tried to take pictures with one hand, which is near impossible with the heavy lenses. So then I sat down, put Lucas on my knee and tried to take pictures that way. But he was bouncing around so much that the pictures were coming out blurry.

I guess being a working mom is the ultimate challenge. We are responsible to carry some financial responsibility, but also to take care of our family’s health and happiness. I guess I am still learning the ropes when it comes to this balancing act. And part of me loves trying to figure it out because I love my job.

One thing is for sure; I have to start spending a little more time with my boy before he takes up with another family.