Growing up, my siblings and I thought of our relatives’ houses as our second home. We saw or stayed with our grandparents on a daily basis before or after school, stayed with aunts and uncles and cousins on the weekends, and Sunday lunch after church was a given. My grandfather still gives me a hard time about packing up and moving away to Chattanooga, the city I now call my home. My husband is from the same city I’m from, therefore our families live within a 30-mile radium of one another. It makes visiting and holidays much easier on us, but it dawned on me after I gave birth to Gray that our village of helpers and caregivers was deserted.
Instead, I’ve come to lean on a group of people that I now call my village: my workplace.
I love my job. Seriously. I feel an immense amount of satisfaction and fulfillment working in local government along side a strong administration here in Chattanooga. I work closely with my coworkers in the Mayor’s Office and with many other City folks as we like to call them. My village began construction on April 1, 2015, when I had just received confirmation that I was in fact pregnant with a surprise baby. The first person I told, even before my husband or mom or best friends, was my coworker who is a mom herself. Her excitement at my news made me realize that it’s ok to be both excited and scared. From then on, I slowly told more people, family and work family both, but came to rely on my coworkers and supervisors on a daily basis since they were much closer than my parents or best friends.
For the next 30 weeks, I constantly turned to my work family for pregnancy advice and what to expect during and after maternity leave.
My direct two supervisors at the time were both dads. One recommended my current OB/GYN who delivered Gray and will deliver baby #2, and even had blinds put in my office while I was out on maternity leave, so I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a place to pump. My work baby shower blew my mind and humbled my heart at how giving everyone was. As soon as I delivered Gray, I was sent food and well wishes and even went to work every Friday for lunch to see everyone.
I was welcomed by a new supervisor when I returned to work. I was nervous on what to expect, but I am now so thankful to be working under a woman who knows what it’s like to raise a child and work full-time. She and my other co-workers have banded together to help me when taking off just isn’t an option. Whenever Gray’s school is out or she has to be dropped off by my husband, I don’t have to entertain her myself. Instead, it’s a regular occurrence to see a blonde-hair toddler running around the office and halls. She loves to take a tour of City Hall with my supervisor, look out my coworker’s window, play around the Office of Multicultural Affairs, visit with the Mayor’s staff, and even sit down with the Mayor to play or receive a kiss on the forehead. On days in which it’s inevitable that she needs to stay home due to sickness, I’m able to work from my laptop in my bed with Gray.
While weekends are still tough with limited help and a working husband, work days are much easier thanks to my village. My office prides itself on being a family friendly workplace and I can attest to that. It never fails to leave me smiling when I have to gently tell the Mayor that, no, Gray isn’t here today, but I promise to bring her around soon.
As someone who also relies on this village, I just have to say AMEN!!! We are so fortunate; I wish more work spaces could follow the example set here, because everyone wins when parents don’t have to constantly feel as though they are failing as a parent and/or an employee!
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