Working Women

Since having Caitlyn I have decided not to return to work. It was actually a harder decision than I thought. I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom but the thought of losing our medical insurance and not having any income at all was pretty scary. Eric still has a year left of graduate school and while we have some savings and investments and will be getting more student loan funds later in the year I still was hesitant about not having a job.

I feel like I have always had a job. When I was in elementary and middle school I had a paper route. As a junior and senior in high school I worked Saturdays and summers as a waitress at a cafe. I didn't work my freshman year at BYU but got a job as a summer conference assistant right after finishing my first year. Except for a break during my mission and maybe a month or two following a semester abroad and another two months after I got married I have always had a job. Last Thursday was the date that I was scheduled to return to work but about a month ago I contacted the law firm I had been working at for the past year and a half and told them I wasn't going back. It was so hard for me and I stressed about it for months. But I know that I made the right decision. I will admit though when I received the COBRA information in the mail I almost called them and said "Never mind! I am coming back!" Eric pays for health insurance through his school but Caitlyn and I were insured through my work's policy and paid a very reasonable premium. Eric's insurance premiums were high but his school requires that he has it so there isn't much we could do. However, under COBRA, to maintain coverage for me and Caitlyn it would cost $896 a month with a $5000 deductible. I almost choked! We decided our best option would be to join in on Eric's plan. Eric was paying $125 a month. Now we still pay an outrageous $800 a month to insure all 3 of us but it is only a $100 deductible per person. Still outrageous, especially since it is student health insurance. Don't they know how poor students are? It is things like this that just reinforce the need for health insurance reform. I won't go off on that but it is just frustrating. If Eric's school didn't require him to have insurance we probably would drop his. I have thyroid issues and take daily medication for it. But I only started seeing the specialist and taking the medication when I was pregnant to make sure everything was okay with Caitlyn. I don't really think I need to continue the medication and would even be okay dropping health coverage for myself if it weren't for that silly pre-existing condition clause that insurance companies have. The irony is that maybe after a year of draining our savings and selling off some of our investments we could qualify for medicaid. Anyway, I guess this is part of life as a grown-up! Eric and I have put it off long enough :)

So back to the title of this post. My work asked me if I would come back in for a day or two to train the person they hired to replace me. I felt like it was the least I could do. The catch was that they wanted me to bring Caitlyn in with me. I don't know if they realized what they were asking. Caitlyn is a really good baby but she still can be pretty needy. She likes attention and if she isn't getting it she will let you know ;) But they really wanted to see her so I agreed to come in for a few hours one day with her and then could come back and leave her with a friend to finish things up another day. So last Tuesday morning we headed out the door for Caitlyn's first day of work. We got into the office just before 10am and didn't leave until 6pm. Caitlyn was amazing! She just laid on her blanket on the floor and talked and laughed to herself and took in all of the new things to see. She wanted to nurse about every 1.5 - 2 hours and needed lots of diaper changes and 3 wardrobe changes but didn't cry at all until about 5:30 that night when she decided she was tired and wanted to go home. Everyone at work fell for her smiles instantly and it was actually a really great day. And because we were so productive and stayed all day we were able to cover pretty much everything and I don't have to go back in. It felt so good to be able to actually work and be productive. It has been quite an adjustment to be home all day with Caitlyn but I didn't even realize how much I would miss working. Don't get me wrong. Being a mom is the hardest work I have ever done and there is still a sense of accomplishment when you get all of the laundry washed, folded and put away but its not the quite the same. Its hard to explain but it has helped motivate me to look into some job options that I can do from home. Eric is still trying to convince me to write some book series and be the next breakout young adult author and make millions of dollars. If only it were that easy.