So you’ve been playing in the park with a baby for two years and you want to go back to work?

Staying at home with your child equips you for  nothing more than  swing pushing and preparing bite size toddler meals.  Or so 1950 would have you believe. What about patience and empathy, time management and delegation, dealing with a crisis and prioritising – not to mention communication and negotiation?  Blogger and freelance writer Megan Blandford recently tried to return to the workforce. She writes

“There is some concern that all you’ve done is stay home for the last two years.”

And, just like that, I’ve been dismissed. Quickly swept aside.

I never expected to be on the receiving end of words like these. In fact, this was once my greatest fear and I took measures to prevent it from happening. At least, I thought that’s what I’d been doing.

Ironically, I came to be at home because of the circumstances dictated by an outdated corporate mindset. I worked hard for one company for more than eight years, enjoying promotion after promotion, but when I had my baby I was told they wouldn’t see me through a short period of needing more flexible working conditions. It was full-time or nothing. I sought other options, but found part-time work soon turned to more and more demands on me.

Instead, I turned to working from home; the only option I could find that gave me the flexibility I needed at this point in my life. I’ve done this for the last two years, attending meetings up to two days before my daughter’s birth and grabbing snippets of time since for phone conferences, research and consultancy work.

Now, with that work all but dried up, I’ve found myself with a gap in the household finances. Not keen to jump back on the career treadmill, I began seeking roles below my skill level, expecting to find something that suited my needs quickly and easily. But when queried over my experience I faced a ‘concern’ that ‘all’ I’ve done of late is stay at home.

In their minds, I’m simply a stay-at-home mum. Someone to be dismissed with a wave of the hand and an arrogant statement of ‘concern’. End of story.

Of course, they’re right. I’ve sat at home, watching daytime television and making goo-goo-ga-ga sounds with my baby. Yes. For two years that’s ALL I’ve done, all the while my brain deteriorating into oblivion.

Except it’s not. With a fear of being seen in this light, I’ve made sure my skills remain up to date and I’ve worked hard to make sure I could slot back into the traditional workforce if and when required.

And even if I hadn’t done that, even if I had just focused on my family for two years – there should not be any ‘concern’ over such a thing. But, it seems, two years is all it takes for the previous years to become insignificant. Just like that, women are being dismissively swept under the rug of the corporate boardroom.

This way of thinking is, quite frankly, frightening. Not to mention discriminatory. It’s a corporate mindset that needs a serious transition into the twenty-first century.

It’s frightening because there are thousands upon thousands of women who leave work to care for their children. There are women who choose to do this and there are women who, like me, have found themselves in this position due to a number of circumstances. All of them have skills that they formed before giving birth, and new skills developed since.

But after taking a break from our careers, we’re made to fight for our place in the workforce, to have our choices undermined and put up with sweeping discriminatory remarks. We’re under that rug, trying to crawl out and prove ourselves but being trodden on in the process.

Did my brain disappear when I gave birth, leaving my body alongside a screaming four-and-a-half-kilogram bundle? Well, lots of things have changed since my daughter was born, including a complete loss of faith in the corporate world, but that wasn’t one of them.

Is returning to work always such a minefield?  Has your experience been any different? Mamamia reader Michelle* is also trying to return to work and she needs our help

I am well-educated mum of a 3 and 1 year old, who is looking to return back to the workforce on a part time basis. I moved from Sydney to Brisbane when I was pregnant 3 years ago, so I have no real employment history or work contacts up here.I have applied for a couple of jobs directly which I have had no luck, them stating that “they had hundreds of applications for the position and unfortunately I will not be interviewed”. Now I am calling employment agencies and they say that it would be easier to find a needle in a haystack over getting a part time marketing job.

The thought of forgetting all my studies and everything that I worked for prior to having children and taking any unrelated job is so disheartening, but I will do it if necessary.

However, the only jobs I see suited towards “mums” look like dodgy online scams or some sort of franchise opportunity.

Where are all the ‘normal’ jobs?

They must be out there somewhere….but where are they and how can I find one?