So I recently had a baby girl and I love her beyond anything else in my life. I also love my husband (and yeah, he feels the same way about me, our daughter)… My point, we’re all exuding the feelings that any one person would abt his/her spouse/ child.
The deal’s that we’re going thru some rough times and with the osap(student loan) accumulating for both of us I just can’t delay going back to work. My baby is only a month old and I have been looking for work for a long time now since my last job didn’t last beyond the mat leave. I finally have a few interviews lined up and I’m positive about a couple of them. Also, in my condos, I am very close friends (and she’s also extended family) with this baji who has her own kids and if she were to babysit our girl for me, I wouldn’t think twice! Now this baji unfortunately doesn’t babysit since she has 3 little kids of her own but she has highly recommended someone else in our building whom she’s good friends with. I’m yet to meet her friend, but this baji keeps on praising her and tells me that I will go to work in peace since her friend absolutely loves little kids and will raise her like her own.
The problem’s that since this is my first time, I am severely emotional. I don’t even have a job offer as of now and yet I keep on balling my eyes out all the time cuz obv like all mothers it will be hell for me to leave my little one with someone else. At the same time I feel for my husband who’s really working overtime and struggling hard for us to go thru this tough time. I want to be his strength as well and after all what we’re doing (work and all) is for the betterment of our life/baby..
I just want to hear from any other parent who once wore my shoes. What did you tell yourself to make you go thru the day at work? My husband is trying to cheer me up by telling me how it will be fun for me to get out of the house and get sometime for myself. One of the interviews I’ve lined up is at this place where I’ve always wanted to work but now that they finally called me in, I don’t feel excited. I’m just constantly crying. I love my girl. But then so do all moms and dads who just have to leave their kids behind at some point with the babysitter. Plus, I also know that no matter what age she is, it will just be hard for me to leave her with someone to start off with! As in, ppl tell me hey maybe you should wait a few more months or w/e.. but it will just be as hard for me when she’s 6 months old as it is now.
And like I said, I want to be there with my husband and go through all this with him. Plus he can also accomodate his work timings to some extent for him to also be able to put in a few hrs in the morn so the baby has less time to spend with the sitter.
I’m really waiting to hear from all of you. Perhaps it’ll make me feel better!
Bhenjee, I’m not even married and, therefore, way far from being a mom and I’m not sure if my advise would be of any help for you.
What I understood from your post is that you’re mostly worried about your OSAP pay-off, correct? If there is no other major expense that you need to worry about, perhaps, you can take up a part-time job for now? That way, you won’t have to be away from your baby girl for a long period of time and there will be some supplementary income coming in as well. Also, assuming your husband has a 9-5 job, you may look for an evening job so that your daughter is always with one of the two parents and you won’t be worrying about leaving her to some stranger.
I hope things work out for your family very soon. Good luck!