ORIGINALLY POSTED ON YODELINGMAMAS.COM
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I’ve worked at Yahoo! for over six years now. Six years! That’s longer than I’ve attended any school, worked at any job—even 3 weeks longer than I’ve been married. (Then again, I did date my husband for longer than that before we got married, but that’s another story…) During my time here, my life has changed more than I could ever have imagined. My father was diagnosed with brain cancer and has had multiple brushes with death. I’ve been pregnant twice—not so gracefully, I’m afraid—and I’ve been blessed with two beautiful little boys. And every step of the way, Yahoo! has been willing to change with me.
When I came back from maternity leave the first time around, I was determined to prove that motherhood hadn’t slowed me down. I accepted a promotion and began my glamorous management role. Only it turned out it wasn’t all that glamorous and my heart was being pulled in different directions. In time, I realized what I loved was the day-to-day creativity of my former job…and having more time with my family. My team was wonderfully understanding and supportive. I was able to return to my individual contributor role and start working a 4-day workweek so I had Fridays at home.
My second maternity leave and return to work in May presented, well…more of a challenge. After my baby boy was hospitalized for a week with RSV at 10 days old, was diagnosed with VUR, had another respiratory infection that landed him in the ER, suffered from multiple ear infections, not to mention ghastly rashes from antibiotic allergies, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to leave him. The week before I was supposed to return to work, the doctor told me I couldn’t send my boys to the in-home daycare we were counting on because my baby’s immune system didn’t seem to be doing its job. Again, Yahoo! came to the rescue. I was able to move to a part-time schedule, some of it working from home, that allows me to enjoy all the benefits of working here—good friends, creative work and great health care, to name a few—and have more time to be with and take care of my family.
I can’t thank Yahoo! and my team enough for all of the support and flexibility they’ve shown me through the years. Who knows what unexpected things life will throw at me in the upcoming years. All I know is that I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with some of the smartest, most creative, most compassionate people in the world. Literally. And for that, I will always have a reason to yodel.
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