#Mumswithoutbabysitters. This is my story.

My colleague Aditi brought her son Aryan to work today. Another colleague Smriti who is a remote worker, is often seen in office with toddler son Meir.  We recently moved office and made sure we provision for a room – we call the Baby and Yoga room – two things we need to make space in our lives for.     

These strong young women are the core team of SHEROES but they also represent the #takecharge spirit of SHEROES.

No babysitter, no problem.

Can do, will do!

My daughter V is almost a tween now – but she came to work with me for the first 18 months. I had a nascent startup business and no other backups as an entrepreneur. With help of a day-sitter (no space for live-in help in Delhi apartments), we would back all our bags – baby, bottles, feeds, toys, nappies and head to work, where the baby would be parked in a tiny but comfortable baby room – all equipped with sterlisers, toys, cots, mats and cushions, while Mama Bear tried to get some work done.

We would head home at about 6pm every day, post which my babysitter would get a drop home. This is a strenuous, tight schedule – as it meant lot of juggling, reliance on the day-sitter and of course little provision for bad days. Luckily, my daughter played total sport, and we managed those early years. She also learnt that ‘Mama has to work’ – and what her Mama’s life is like and what an office is!

There were many ‘no babysitter’ days, and on those, I just took my daughter along – for meetings, for pitches, to the lawyer’s office and even to a board room. Maybe not a super sustainable solution but that day it worked. Showing up is important.

#Takecharge everyday. Rest will follow, and it has.

Do you have a #mumswithoutbabysitters story? Share it with us in a short post. Mail it to karuna@sheroes.in  Share your pics, videos, and stories with the hashtag #mumswithoutbabysitters and we will send a copy of Babies and Bylines to the most popular stories.

May you find great babysitters too!