Now, this isn’t a “toot” my own horn situation or even a “rah-rah” for the Ya-Ya Sisterhood moment - although, to be clear, self-love and feminism are both of utmost importance. This is simply an observation made of my own experience. I’ve been in the workforce for fifteen years and with this company for more than eight, and it was about halfway into that tenure that I became a mother. Let’s go ahead and refer to these two periods as BC (before crazy) and AD (adulting…)
A shot from my beautiful AD life
Not surprising, BC Rachel had a lot more time on her hands. She could, at the drop of a hat, fly off to Paris to host a new client, but make a quick stop in Brussels to do a site check. Bring on the frequent flyer miles – all she needed was a passport, her laptop and a dress that transitioned seamlessly from segway tours to sunset cruises.
Now, let’s check in with AD Rachel. First, she’ll mark off the trip dates on the big kitchen calendar, then send her husband a notification on their shared google calendar. Next, she’ll have to make sure her kids are prepared, so her daughter has a healthy (or just “a”) lunch for school every day, her son has enough stored breast milk in the freezer, and well, her husband will have to figure out dinner (she woefully accepts this will most likely be Chick Fil-A nuggets with yellow sauce.) Covering pickups, drop-offs, gymnastics class, and everything in between, it’s like a perfectly choreographed dance. Now, time to pack – a breast pump, a European adapter for the breast pump, freezer bags, ice packs, a hand-drawn family portrait, a baby blanket (just for the smells) a passport, laptop and that perfect transitional dress. Ahhhhh, time to relax on the plane. Actually, that’s pretty accurate, as it’s probably the first moment of peace and quiet in several months.
So, you may be wondering where the argument that AD Rachel is the better employee is made. Well, AD Rachel has a lot less time, so efficiency is key. Anything that can be planned ahead of time will be, so that makes for less hiccups onsite. Everyone and everything will be accounted for, because AD Rachel is constantly herding cats…I mean kids. If something does go wrong, AD Rachel is used to taking it in stride, because she’s practiced countless times. Example: Toddler meltdown at Target while attempting to have a conversation with that girl from high school that always seemed to have it all together. Okay, but it turns out this problem is kind of big…the beers made it to the bus, but they’re warm (because Europeans and Americans have very different opinions on the optimal temperature of their beverages). Well, have no fear, emerging from her bag as if it were divine intervention…the ice pack.
A shot of my best co-worker in AD life, my husband.
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