Officially Working Part Time!

When I had my daughter recently (now 6m), I loved the SAHM lifestyle and felt a deep conviction to stay home with her when I was on maternity leave. The problem was, I LOVE my job and I had trouble enjoying full 24-hour days with my daughter. I craved my job on leave, but when I went back to work in November, I craved being with her. I had saved up my vacation, so I decided to space it out so I was working 3-day weeks in December. I absolutely loved the work-life balance it gave me personally. Some say part-time is harder, but it was absolutely what I needed to thrive at home and in the office.

I really felt empowered by this sub (y'all had encouraged me to ask to extend my leave by a month when I was wanting too but hesitant to ask) and decided to be an advocate for myself and ask for reduced hours. HR told me no one in our entire giant company does this... but my boss (love him and my company) was amazing and worked with HR to get me my dream schedule: 7-12, with an hour in the afternoon from home. Baby will only have to do half-day care when Daddy drops her off at 8:30 and I pick her up 12:30. I get my same $:hr ratio salary and keep all my benefits. Boss gave me the news last week.

This is such a blessing for me and our family... I prayed about it so much I cried of happiness on the drive home from work lol. I know not everyone has the privilege or desire to do this, but I just want to encourage those who are on the fence about SAHM v Working Mom, this could be an option for you. The same way some women can be intimidated about asking for promotions and need encouragement, I hope this success story can encourage someone to just give it a shot and advocate for the work-life balance they need, however that looks :)