Mother balances work and child
Published:Monday | March 16, 2015 | 1:29 PMLauntia Cuff
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth:
BEING A new mom and trying to balance a full-time job with the responsibilities of motherhood can be a difficult task for some.
Sometimes being a working mom can lead to feelings of guilt, as is the case with Garneitha Davidson, who is an administrative assistant and the mother of a four-month-old baby girl, Kaelin.
Davidson said although it is a difficult situation for her and she is still learning to balance it all, she knows it is necessary to provide for her daughter?s needs.
?I gave birth on January 1, 2015 and returned to work February 2, 2015, from home and March 9, 2015 in office,? she told Family and Religion.
working from home
While working from home she said, ?It was challenging due to the fact that my daughter was so young and she needed constant attention. So in the midst of typing up a report, she would wake up and need to be fed and I would constantly have to stop what I was doing to attend to her.?
Now that she has gone back in office, Davidson says she is often at work missing her daughter and when she returns home, work does not end there as she takes over from the family friend who cares for her during the days.
?I feel awful due to the fact that I miss my little bundle of joy immensely, and because my breasts ache when I?m unable to feed her [because] I?m at work,? she explained.
Davidson, who is still breastfeeding, says although she expresses her milk to leave for her daughter during the days, it is not enough to last for the entire day and as a result, she has to go home during the days to feed her.
?A family friend looks after her until I return from work. My work hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No matter how tired [I am], she is my child and my responsibility as a parent is to ensure that I make the sacrifice so she knows how much I love and adore her,? Davidson says.
She says she could not do it alone, however, and the support she receives from her family members is an essential part of raising her child.
?It is due to their help and support that balancing a four-month-old has become easier. They are there and readily assist me when I need that little extra help,? she said.