7/21/12 Working mamas…
Marissa Mayer is the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She’s also 37 years old and 6 months pregnant. She told Fortune magazine that she plans to take only a few weeks for maternity leave and will work from home while she is out.
How do you feel about this? Some criticize her dedication to her career will interfere with motherhood. Are we not allowed to have it all because we’re women?
I understand the pressure she’s under. I may not have been a CEO of a ginormous company when I had Olivia, but I still felt pressured to return to work and perform as soon as possible. I took a 12 week maternity leave and returned part time just as tax season began. My boss made it clear that he would love me to come back full time, but “understood” my choice to work only 3 days a week.
By March, my boss asked “Are you able to get some work done at home? Or work an extra day or 2 a week?” He may have “understood”, but that didn’t stop him from pressuring me. I didn’t want to work any extra, but I felt guilty not stepping up to the plate to help my peers during our busiest season. Knowing that there would only be a month and a half left, I sucked it up and did it. And the extra money I earned helped pay that $800 hospital bill I received to lay on a bed and push my baby out all by myself, without medication.
The extra money helped pay some bills, but those long hours during tax season also contributed to my declining breast milk production. I would drop Olivia off at daycare by 8 and by the time I got home at 7, she was already alseep. I was no longer nursing her and pumping just wasn’t cutting it. If I had resisted the pressure would I have been a better mom?
If Marissa takes a full maternity leave, will she be a better mom?
We all face tough decisions everyday whether it be work, what to feed our family or how to budget our money. I don’t have time to judge other moms’ decisions, I’d rather use that energy on my own “to do” list.
Good luck, Marissa. Remember you have the rest of your life to build your career, but your babies are only little for a short time. Do what’s best for your family and let the haters hate.
wildorchidmama 