Mother Writes Open Letter to Coworkers After They Call Maternity Leave a 'Vacation'
Despite the thousands of pictures of sweet, happy babies posted on social media by new parents, motherhood is hard work.
From trying to get a newborn to sleep to just wanting five minutes of time to yourself, becoming a parent is like having a full-time job.
People who have not had children do not quite understand the time-consuming task of parenting, which is why one woman’s open letter to her coworkers has hit home for many people.
Carrie O’Maley Voliva wrote a personal essay titled “To My Coworkers Who Called My Maternity Leave a ‘Vacation,’ This Is What I Want You to Know” and it perfectly depicts the struggles of a new mother.
Voliva’s letter was in response to her coworkers who asked after her last maternity leave why she was scheduling another vacation even though she just “had a long vacation.”
She began by thanking her colleagues for covering for her while she was gone.
“I know it hasn’t been easy,” Voliva wrote. “You’ve added my duties to your already too long to-do lists … I see it, and I really, really appreciate it.”
And though, she admitted that she completed “long overdue house projects” and posted cute pictures of her son, there were some not so glamorous things about her maternity leave.
“But what you didn’t see is that I didn’t get any sleep at night for the first month because if I put my baby down, he immediately started crying, and I couldn’t safely sleep with him in my arms,” she wrote.
The new mother also spent hours wandering around Target because she was so sleep-deprived that she didn’t realize how much time had passed until her body informed her that it was time to nurse again.
“You didn’t see the 48 hours I spent with my 6-week-old in the hospital, him hooked up to oxygen and fluids, because he had (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and pneumonia. You didn’t see the week I’d spent prior to his hospitalization, checking his temperature every hour and carefully watching his chest heave up and down to make sure he didn’t stop breathing.”
The new mom also had to reassure her toddler that he was still loved even though his little brother was always in his mother’s arms.
“And so, while I know you can’t wait for me to come back to work and ease your load, I ask you to be gentle with me, because I also have a much larger weight on my shoulders than I did when I left.”
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