Paige here to talk about officially becoming a working mom! Last month I finally went back to work selling real estate, and although I LOVE my job I have to say it's been a little bitter sweet. Luckily, selling homes provides me with a fairly flexible schedule, but spending time and energy focused on something other than MJ has been an adjustment!
It was always the plan to take the standard 6-8 weeks off after having the baby, and then return to work full time with a few minor adjustments… I’d do more of my office work from home, and schedule home showings in the evenings when my husband is home or when my mother-in-law could watch him. Easy-peasy, right?! To be honest, I thought I’d actually enjoy returning to work and having a little time away from everything baby! When the time came however, I felt differently.
First of all, do people really only take SIX weeks of maternity leave?! That’s what I’d heard was pretty standard, but when 6 weeks rolled around I felt NO where near ready to return to work. By 8 weeks I felt a little better, but it still took me a couple more weeks to really feel ready to get back into the swing of things. I’m blessed to have a job that allowed me that flexibility because I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise! 10-12 weeks should be standard time off for maternity leave in my opinion! AND by the way (side note for those without kids) “time off” doesn’t equate to “vacation time” when you’re on maternity leave. I actually had another realtor in my office ask me if I had a nice “vacation” when I returned to work, haha. I don’t remember having sore nipples, getting no sleep and constantly cleaning up poop and spit up on any vacation I’ve ever been on, but ok ;)
To help boost my motivation to return to the work force, I did, of course, what any sane woman would do…a little retail therapy ;) There’s nothing like a brand new, professional-looking outfit to get you into work mode! I may still be a few sizes larger than I used to be but hey, new clothes are new clothes! Plus, when you find a skirt that holds everything in like this black one does, who cares?
The outfits shown here are the results of my retail therapy (which Regan happily joined in on) and our favorite go-to look this season for work attire. You can't go wrong pairing a dressy solid with a fun spring/summer print!
Anyways, now that I’m officially back, things are going pretty well! It’s a lot harder to get my office work done at home than I thought it would be (since MJ isn’t a great napper) but my schedule for showing homes is working out great so far! Really I just need more clients…(the only downside to taking so much time off has been people forgetting that I’m in the business!) So, (shameless self-plug time) if you, or anyone you know in Utah is looking into buying or selling a house, call or email me! 760-801-7993 paigesteckling@kw.com :)
Thanks so much for reading! Outfit details linked below :)
