Fast Company Expert Blogger Brian Reich asks some interesting questions in his posting about becoming a new parent…
Ok, here are the questions I keep thinking about:
– How will my feelings about work change? Will I still want to get up in the morning and go to work, if it means having to leave my baby for the day?
– How will my relationship with clients change? Am I going to be at a disadvantage because I won’t be able to go out socializing with a client?
– How will my relationship with colleagues change? I work with a lot of younger people — folks who are just getting married, probably not thinking about kids at all. Are they going to see me differently now that I am a daddy?
– Will I become more creative than I was before? Being a parent means an opportunity to meet all sorts of new people, read different books and watch different TV shows, learn about a whole new category of things. Will that help me come up with better answers and more ideas for my projects?
– Will my work habits change? I have this vision of working between baby naps, early morning and late at night — wherever I can steal away a few seconds of uninterrupted time. Am I crazy to think I can do that, or that I will want to do that?
I know that parenting, like everything else, is about balance. And I know that most of my questions are heavily weighted towards one extreme or the other. And like I said abvoe, I don’t think I am nervous about the changes that will occur – more curious, and excited. My way of learning is to collect lots of opinions and stories and then try to process what wilil work best for me. So, I hope that you will be willing to share some of your experiences about work life after having a baby. And maybe a whole discussion will come from this – I sure hope so.
These are all good questions and really reminded me of the crazy days when my children were much younger. (Now 13/7/4) All working parents have the those moments and later look back on them and wonder how they got through. My own favourite memory is of trying to add my commentary to a grant application for research on self employed women and how they strive to try and fit (and fund) maternity leave into their careers…of course I was doing all of this while my brand new crying baby girl was swinging in her swing beside my desk in my home office. Not my favourite memory of work-life balance – but none the less reality for many self employed working parents. (Note – The application did get funded…and several years later I found myself proofing the final report just days before the birth of my third child! Just a bit ironic!)
So…if you are a parent…drop by Brian’s blog and post some comments for him…how did you do it? Is it hard? Do you fit it all in? Are you more or less confident with your colleagues, your clients? If you aren’t a parent – is this because you can’t imagine working and parenting at the same time? If so, also leave some comments. It will all make for a good discussion…
Right…I’m off to check on my kids…
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