Reader R writes with a question about how women who choose to stay home with their kids for a while can keep career paths open to them…
I’m hoping you and the lovely Corporette commenters will be able to offer some guidance. (as surely I’m not the only one who has faced or will face this dilemma).
I’m an ’08 law grad and spent two years in biglaw before accepting a government position last fall. Now I am pregnant and due this fall. I’d originally moved to government thinking it would be more amenable to family life, but have since decided I’d like to stay home full time, at least for a little while. If we end up having more than one child, I suppose it could end up being as long as 3 – 4 years.
So, my question is, knowing I’d like to return to the legal field one day, what can I do during my career hiatus to ensure that I am still marketable/relevant when I return to work and to help make that transition back easier? I’ve already made up my mind to stay home, so I am not really interested in a suggestion that I continue working. However, advice on how long is “too long” to be out of work would also be appreciated.
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I think you’re really smart to be thinking about this now — and not, say, in four years when you’re looking to get back in the workforce. I have no experience with this personally, so I’m really curious to hear what the readers say. (Pictured: Open Doors, originally uploaded to Flickr by *Fede*.)
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Today’s guest post is from Jenny Hamilton, who is a senior in-house lawyer at a Fortune 500 company and the mother to a 5 month-old little girl. Jenny explores the world of fashion, dressing for the corporate world, and motherhood daily at JennyHamiltonStyle.com.
Just as you don’t pack on the baby weight overnight, once you have your baby, your body is going to go through another major change – this time in reverse! So how do you make the transition? Here are five easy tips:
1. Large, open cardigans make excellent transition pieces because they can double as a comfy jacket for the office and they can be worn during maternity leave with a pair of soft leggings.
2. Invest in long, fun print scarves that you can tie high above the baby belly to give you shape (in the form of an empire waist) during the pregnancy, and you can wear it long and loose around your neck to hide the post-baby bloat.
3. Stretchy knit skirts, like this one from Isabella Oliver, transition from maternity to post-baby beautifully.
4. Another key piece is a soft, knit wrap dress that can grow (and shrink) with you. You can wear a cardi or jacket over for work, and remove and add oversized earrings for a night out.
5, Finally, here’s what NOT to buy: shoes of any sort except flats or wedges with good supports that can accommodate swelling towards the end of pregnancy. Your weight could cause your arches to fall and flatten (and enlarge) your feet post-baby, so take a vacation from heavy shoe shopping.
This struck us as a great question…
I’d love to see some suggestions on hiding a baby bump while dressing appropriately for the office. Hiding my growing belly wasn’t hard with my first baby. It just wasn’t that big. Now I’m pregnant with my second and, true to everything all my friends told me, I’m much bigger, much earlier. I prefer not to tell everyone until the first trimester is over. That means hiding my expanding middle. I moved up a size in trousers (no expand-o waist pants yet). However, I can’t seem to find any good ideas for tops. I’d love your (and your readers’) help. Anonymously, of course. Any hope for me? :)
Having never been pregnant, we can’t really offer any advice, but it does strike us as a very worthwhile question. (Fine, here’s our best guess — we’d stick with empire-waisted tops such as the one above, or very blousy tunic tops. Pictured: Banana Republic Garment-dyed linen top
, available at Banana Republic for $59.) Still — readers, what is your best advice on how to dress professionally while hiding a baby bump? Any other tips on dealing with pregnancy woes, such as morning sickness?
Something on your mind? Chat about it here.
Pictured: Galaxy Mug, available at Target for $29.99 (set of 6)
Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- Happy 100th birthday to Catherine Murdock Dewey, one of the first female lawyers in Boston. [Ms. JD]
- Do you take your engagement/wedding rings off when you interview? [Brazen Careerist]
- Expecting? Here are some tips on how to announce your pregnancy at work. [The Thin Pink Line]
- Does your productivity and happiness need a boost at work? Here are 12 quick tips. [The Happiness Project]
- Jezebel lists the 75 books every woman should read. [Jezebel]
- Three successful female entrepreneurs share their best advice. [Marie Claire]
- Is your money safe? The Simple Dollar studies the issue.
