A pat on the back

I work part-time, an arrangement established after the birth of my daughter, and I go into the office twice a week. This afternoon, my boss took our department out for drinks and appetizers as a sort of "thank you for your hard work in 2009, let's keep it going in 2010," so I gladly made the commute in on my day off.

I realized today I have a love/hate relationship with work. Even though I work part-time, I have full-time job responsibilities. Add to this the full-time responsibilities of being a mom and wife, and sometimes I just don't know if I can hack it all. There are many days I want to say "screw it" and just stay home. But today I discovered the one thing that work gives me that I often miss at home: a pat on the back.

Any mom out there will agree that the job is often thankless. You know what you're doing is making a difference, you know it is important, you feel a sense of pride in what you're doing (raising a human being for heaven's sake!), but there aren't awards for it. There aren't "thank you for your hard work in 2009, let's keep it going in 2010" drink outings. (Though maybe when my daughter is older, she'll take me out for a cocktail to say "thanks!")

Even though work can drive me a crazy, what it is good for is a pat on the back. It is a great feeling to have people acknowledge what you're doing and thank you for all your efforts.

Now excuse me, I have to get back to my real boss, who is demanding chocolate milk and who I will have to remind to say "thank you."