I recently went back to the office after 15 months of working from home. I knew for a couple of months that it was coming, but the time still passed really quickly, and before I knew it, I was corraling my kids out the door at 7:30 a.m. to drop them at daycare and head to the office.
For about a week before my return to the office, I felt anxious and unsure of how I felt going back.
Our office had dropped their mask mandate for anyone fully vaccinated (which I am) but they didn’t require anyone to show proof of vaccination. I also hadn’t been anywhere crowded inside without a mask for more than a year. I didn’t feel very comfortable going in after so long, and still in the midst of a pandemic.
The first day back was stressful. I yelled at my kids on the way out of the house because they were stalling. At the office, hardly anyone was wearing a mask. The internet at work was so slow that it took me twice as long to get work done as it would have at home. I came home that evening wondering how I was going to go back to doing this on a regular basis.
Luckily, the next day was a lot easier – partially because I put less pressure on me and the kids in the morning, and partially because I had an actual meeting with actual people (all wearing masks and in a huge room so we could sit far apart). I also met up with a friend at lunch for a walk, which was something I had really missed.
I hope that, as time goes on, it’ll become part of my routine to get up and go to the office in the mornings just as it was pre-COVID. I am lucky in that I can still work from home a couple of days a week, which makes the transition easier as well. If my kids are sick (or if I am), I know I can work from home without having to take a sick day. I am luckier than a lot of Americans who are returning to the office.
If you’re a working mama, have you returned to the office yet, or is WFH a permanent thing for you?
