It was my turn to stay home Friday with my 9-month-old son, Isaac, who had been fighting a cold or maybe allergies all week long and finally seemed fussy enough to warrant a day of hugs, snuggling and general TLC from his mom.
I decided to try to wear two hats – mom and good employee – by attempting to get some work done from home while caring for Ike. I didn’t want to fall behind on projects that were underway at work, just because I was going to be on sick-time at home with my son.
My bold plans to be supermom and do it started out well. I completed my usual morning tasks faster than usual, despite the company of my little co-worker, because my usual long drive downtown during rush hour wasn’t a factor. I was on a roll until it was time to call into a meeting taking place in the conference room at the office.
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Isaac decided that would be he ideal time to start to squawk. He’d been quiet and content until then, but it was like he somehow knew that my being on the phone meant that my attention wasn’t fully on him. Or maybe he was just hungry and tired; one never knows for sure with a baby.
Regardless, I had to sheepishly make my apologies and hang up the phone once the baby yelling was blasting through the speaker phone at work and drowning out everyone else. I’m very lucky to work in a family-friendly place where people are understanding and sympathetic to working parents, often because they themselves are working moms and dads. Even so, it’s embarrassing to have to admit you can’t give 100 percent at work and home at the same time.
