Banking good will, nearly as important as banking milk
In part two of her three part series on preparing for maternity leave, guest blogger Liz O’ Donnell talks about how to prepare yourself for the harsh realities of life with a baby. As professional as you are, there will be times when new mothers will have to leave the office early or miss a meeting. Liz explains …
When your new baby is sick, sometimes you have to leave work early
Understanding your maternity benefits is only part of your pre-leave prep. There is another critical thing you should do at work during your pregnancy: bank as much goodwill as possible.
New mothers, you may not be able to imagine this scenario, but I implore you to listen to me anyway. Regardless of how much you love your job, or how professional and committed you are at work, no matter what your attendance record was pre-baby: when you return you will need unplanned time off.
You will be exhausted.
You may be distracted.
The more points you can earn at work now, the better.
Resist the urge to shop for Pack-n-Plays online and discuss the baby shower with your coworkers. Instead:
- Finish a key project or take on a new assignment
- Document status updates, share key information, and
- Ask your boss what she or he needs from you before you go.
Position your team, your department, and your clients for success. That way, when you return and the daycare inevitably calls to say your baby is running a fever, you can cut out of work knowing you’ve given your best to your company, and now it’s time to be there for your child.
Liz O’Donnell is a freelance writer who writes about women, work, family and fashion. Read more from Liz at www.HelloLadies.com.
You can read Part one of her series on preparing for maternity leave. She discusses finding out what you are entitled to as family leave, FMLA, etc. In part three of this series, she’ll provide advice on the best way to keep nursing/breastfeeding your baby when you return to work.
Photo: Sick baby by / from Ted’s blog courtesy Flickr.com creative commons license.
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Filed Under: Featured • For New Moms • Moms Returning to Work • Working Moms Resources
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Liz, I think you did a great job on this series.
The one thing you can’t prepare yourself for is how a successful woman can go from feeling in control to completely out of control. It’s amazing how babies can most the most competent person feel a bit like an idiot.
I’m looking forward to part three of this series next week.
Julie
[...] Read Part one of her series on preparing for maternity leave. She discusses finding out what you are entitled to as family leave, FMLA, etc. In part two on banking good will. [...]