Mommy Casual

For almost the entirety of my second maternity leave, my standard uniform was black yoga pants + cute t-shirt. Add or subtract socks, hoodie or mittens as the weather dictated, but that was pretty much it, every day. It was easy, it was comfortable and neither my newborn nor my toddler seemed to care that I looked like a major shlep. If my husband thought I could use a little glamming up, well, he was smart enough not to say so.

While this uniform was definitely appropriate for the life I was happily living, there were days that I missed looking like an adult, with wardrobe needs that extended beyond ‘stretchy’ and, ‘goes well with baby puke.’ I actually missed my work clothes; missed having a reason to brush my hair; missed wearing clothes that stayed stain-free past 9 am. The days or evenings that I did find reason to clean it up a bit were exciting, and I would pour over my narrow post-partum outfit choices with a partly frustrating, partly exhilarating intensity that I hadn’t tapped since my high-school days.

Fast-forward a few months, and I am back at work, literally crying in my coffee with longing for the comfort and ease of my mat leave standards.

What was I thinking? Even pushing the very limits of casual in my corporate casual work environment, dressing has become a daily stress that I would trade for yoga pants and t-shirts in a nano-second. My post-partum, still-nursing body, after having evicted two kids from my womb in less than 2 ½ years, rebels against stiff cotton, threatening to burst from whatever seams I push myself into, and that’s providing I have found something clean to wear in the first place.

I have totally given up on style, hoping that the remnants of whatever still fits from my first post-mat leave return to work looks ok, or at least acceptable. Sure, I’ve bought a few, desperately needed staples to round things out, but these purchases have been rushed and frugal and almost entirely limited to sweaters, because I can just pull these on over my shirt to see if they fit .I work full-time and have two kids – who has time to enter a dressing room?

Going back to work is not an easy thing to do, but as I sit at my desk, muffin-top threatening to spill over the waist-band of my slacks, I gotta admit – I miss my yoga pants at least as much as I miss my kids.

An original Canada Moms Blog post. Karen G. also writes at The Kids Are Alright.