Mom incognito

This week marks my first official week back into the work force. It's not a spectacular entry--I'm only working about 10 hours a week, give or take, but it's definitely added something extra to my schedule, to be sure. The transition was a little bumpy, and we had some unexpected child-care issues, but all in all, everything went pretty well. My first day, I felt like a spy in disguise. People kept asking me questions about patients, looking to me to give answers, asking for my signature on mounds of paperwork. I even got to wear a nametag. All of these things made me giggle a little bit on the inside, because the whole time I was thinking, "Ha! These people don't realize that they're not talking to a speech pathologist, they're really talking to a MOM!" The whole day felt like that until the other speech pathologist said, "So, where else do you work?" BUSTED! I paused for a second, contemplating some pithy and enigmatic reply, but nothing came. I finally just said, "This is it. I have a son at home, and the rest of the time I'm a mom." I felt she had exposed my secret, and I wondered what she would think. To my surprise, her face lit up and she said, "Oh, that's what I want to do when I have kids! I'm getting married this year, and when we have kids, I don't want to work either! Has it worked out for you?" I smiled back at her and said, "Yeah, it's worked out great." And it has. Of course, when I went back to my regular life, I expected a huge welcome, hail the conquering hero, all of that. After all, Jacob's mother had been gone for hours! How had he survived? When I walked in, Jacob just looked up from snuggling with his Daddy while watching a movie and said, "Oh, hey Mom." So much for the hero's welcome. At least he didn't say, "Hey, I'm hungry. Go make dinner." Well, not immediately, anyway.