KAREN & THE CONSTABLES

Tomorrow I go to work for a whole week as part of my keeping in touch days and I have mixed feelings.

For anyone that doesn’t know, employees in the UK are allowed to take up to 10 days of paid work during maternity (or paternity, adoption and parental) leave without it affecting their leave or pay. These days are optional and can be part-time or full-time, over weeks or months, and what’s done during those days is up to the company and employee to agree upon.

After having Sorsha I went back for all 10 KIT days and really enjoyed it! It can be a great opportunity to get back into the swing of working, catch up on training, refresh yourself on your role (it’s amazing what you forget after being off for a while!) and catchup with anything or anyone you’ve missed! This time though it feels different.

This time I’m going into a new job, at a new location, with new colleagues I don’t know. On top of that I feel like I’ve forgotten so much and I’m going to miss my girls like crazy!

My work have been fantastic and I know they’ll be supportive. Allan and I work for the same company and they’ve arranged for us to do a job-share and relocated us to somewhere much closer to home which lets us spend more time together as a family and splits our roles at work and home right down the middle. The hours we’re working will also free up time during the day and I’m really looking forward to days on the beach and walks in the sunshine together.

I’m sure I’ll be fine and after spending some time working it’ll all come back to me, and Allan will have a great time with Sorsha and Willow next week when the weather is set to improve. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Have you gone back to work after having a family? How did you feel?