From maternity leave to working mum: a week of island life that changed everything |
This week was a week of firsts, and also a week of lasts.
My first day officially back at work came without much fanfare. No grand return, no ‘welcome back’ party - just me, my comfy shoes, and a to-do list the length of my arm. It felt like muscle memory, and yet at the same time, everything was different. I moved through the morning slightly off-beat, as if I’d joined a ceilidh midway through and wasn’t sure if we were dancing the Gay Gordons or the Strip the Willow. The toilet rolls weren’t stored in the same place I usually put them; the bookings whiteboard was organised in a slightly different way; there were new couches in the front room.
And, of course, I was different too.
I haven’t spent much time away from my son in the first six months of his life, and even though my work is less than a mile from my house, the distance felt immense. I found myself texting my husband every half hour: “How’s he doing? Has he napped yet? I left his dummy in the pram if you need it.”
Back at the bunkhouse, the work pulled me in as it always does. There’s something reassuring about tasks that have a clear beginning and end. Strip the........