Returning to the outside world...

For the last nine months I have been wrapped up in the cocoon of maternity leave where my days have revolved around playgroups and cake. Lunches have consisted of hurriedly eating leftovers with one fork while spoon feeding a baby and my only conversations have been around boobs, crawling, weaning and poo. This is a world that I have enjoyed greatly and would happily continue to inhabit if it wasn't for the empty wallet and candyfloss brain.
It is therefore time to think about a return to normality. Thankfully I am no corporate wage slave so my journey back is a little easier than most. Firstly I have applied to return to my job with a national charity for two days a week. Secondly I have signed up to become a Digital Mum in the hopes that I will be able to work flexibly from home around the needs of my daughter. The idea of Digital Mums is to harness the talent and potential of mums and train them to be social media managers. As I seem to spend a huge amount of my life using social media (when I'm not on Ebay that is!) it seems to make perfect sense to try and turn it into a career.
I was at one stage considering becoming a full time stay at home mum. As mentioned before I have loved every part of my maternity leave and think that looking after Stella is the best job in the world. However there have been a few things that have made me change my mind in the last month or so. The first is finances, I have always been very independent and although I am lucky enough to have a husband that earns a decent wage, the idea of having to ask him for money each month sent a shiver down my spine. After childcare I won't be earning a lot with my part time job but its enough to make me feel less like a kept woman.
The fact that I haven't met anyone else in my mum's network who is planning on becoming a full time mum also put me off, already my social circle is diminishing as mum friends return to work. I could just picture myself as the one mum in the corner with a child of Stella's age, possibly becoming the maternal figure with lots of new mums but not having anyone to share milestones with. Lastly it was the sheer monotony of housework that has driven me to retrain/ return to work. The reality of being a stay at home mum means that I am actually a traditional housewife, spending most of my day cooking and cleaning. At least if I am out of the house or earning money then this can be shared, possibly even with a paid cleaner.
I am hoping that I will be able to retain a really healthy work/ life balance and that my working will mean that I enjoy parenting even more. Working part time or from home will also hopefully enable me to witness all the firsts. Stella is already crawling but I hope to be around for her first steps and words. I realise I am a lot luckier than most being in a situation where I have the choices that I do and hope to carry on being a mum first and foremost.