returning to work guilt

[rockabyebaby]

A bit of back ground!
I return to work next week and have been doing a few keeping in touch days to ease me back in.
My DC is 8 months old and my mum will be looking after him so no worries there.
im a single mum and was really excited about returning to work a few months ago but as it has creep ed closer im in tears all the time im not sure whether it is just about the return to work but i feel so emotional and the guilt is overwhelming.

All my mum friends are not returning yet so I don't know if this is normal?

i guess that's what im asking?? does it get better? is this normal?

Of course it's normal. I can't say whether it gets better because I'm not there yet. I'm currently doing some keeping in touch days and I'm feeling the guilt already. I'll be going back part-time when my little one is 11 months. Are you going back full or part-time?

It's very normal to feel guilty returning to work. Are back full or part time?

It does get easier for you and your DC, and if your mum is looking after him/her that must be pretty reassuring for you.

I found the period before going back to work (when I am preparing dc and myself for the separation) the worst.

The day I finally left I felt a sense of freedom and relief. I am so grateful I did not give up work.

Give yourself a chance

thank you for the reassurance, im going back full time but hope to drop a day when im financial i bit more stable!
don't think i was prepared for the overwhelming feelings.
trying to be positive and thinking of all the fun we will have together at weekends

Just to say, Rock that actually I think there is something really special when a grandparent looks after a grandchild.

My DDs are looked after by my mother some of the time when I work, and the relationship they have is really quite special. It is totally different to any other relationship that they have with their other grandparents. Its odd and very difficult to explain, but the other grandparents are visitors on their lives, but their nan is a part of their lives in a very different way. She knows their friends, she knows their problems, their highs and their lows. They can talk to her 1:1 so, if they have any worries, they have another place to go to.

It really does generate a very special relationship, which is impossible to describe, but it really is a very special thing. Don't think of it as you leaving your child... but rather think of it as you bringing another fundamental relationship into your child's life.

Hi Rcockabyebaby,
It does get easier. For me it was very difficult to go back to work after DD2, but 4 years after and I am very happy with my choice. It doesn't help when all the other mums stay at home.
As well, I agree with Ellokitty. I am spanish and my DDs spend the summer holidays there with my mum and sister, and the rest of the family. The first time that DD1 spent the summer with my family in Spain, it was very painful. She was just 2 1/2. But now, I can see they have a relationship with my mum and sister that it wouldn't be there if I was with them. They have to trust them as they are for those 6 weeks their main carers.

It is normal to feel overwhelmingly guilty and emotional I guess - I had a rush of it and nearly put off going to work. I think it must be some sort of inbuilt anti-abandonment survival instinct thing because it went against all logic (normally I'm not a clingy/PFB type parent), kids were fine in childcare and it soon eased off.

Trust your judgment if something really isn't right but you may find it passes once everyone is settled.