It is not always an end - it can also be the start of an exciting new chapter.
Over the coming month, I will discover myself in a new rule – one that I have never been in before and that excites and scares me at the same time – I will become a mother. Now for my partner and myself, as for so many others who are or have been in the same position, this is probably one of the largest changes to your life you can experience. Suddenly, you are responsible for another human being, their well – being, their emotions as well as their basic needs. It is a time of change that can be scary and exciting at the same time, and I look forward to jump into the adventure.
One thing that comes with motherhood, is to take time out of your career and concentrate on your new family. This week, I had my last day at work, before starting maternity leave until December. For many of us, including myself that enjoy our jobs and want to have a career, leaving our company on the side for a while can be hard. I never had the luck of doing a gap year in my life so far, like others do after school to travel and spend time on themselves to do things young people do and enjoy. I always went on to study and follow what was necessary to build a career, without timeouts or large breaks in between. For people like me that has always been defined by and driven towards the next career step, it can be especially hard to take this time out and find piece in our new role as mothers.
However, it is so important that we do. We should not see walking out of our companies for taking mat leave as the end of something like our career, but rather as the beginning of a new role we will take on, even a new career we will enter as mothers that deserves just as much credit and appreciation. As with our careers, it will be challenging and hard from time to time, but if we put the drive and effort in can be incredibly rewarding - we need to set ourselves goals, apply boundaries and take time for ourselves, together with having help and support from strong allies around us. This is what we need for our career, and we also need it now for the new chapter we embark on as mothers.
Besides all of this, maternity leave is a great time to reflect on what we want to get out of our jobs. Are we happy with what we do, with our role, or do we want to change once we go back and do something else altogether. One thing to remember here, after we have children, things change, and we are much less flexible. While this should not hinder us, it should make our decision making not too radical and drastic as we now are not as free anymore as before motherhood. Also, companies will also see us different than before, and we should carefully think about the support we will and have received. On the other hand, being open on what we want and what we don’t want, not being anxious of missing out while on mat leave and earning the respect from our colleagues as well for no longer not only being employees but mothers is key.
We will and can make it work, with the right team and attitude. It is a new chapter to embark on, rather than the closure of freedom and our career. It will be different than before but can be so much more rewarding. Career can come back later, and we can thrive, but between 30 and 40 we must make a decision if we want children or not. Family will last and is the one thing in life we can always trust and reply on. I therefore cannot wait to start my own in the coming months and years to come.
