I Quit!

Yes, you read it right...I Quit! I am now officially a full-time SAHM (that is Stay At Home Mom for those of you that are not familiar). I gave my two week notice and resignation to the Football office and my last "official" day was Friday, August 7th (although I have never returned to work since Jacob was born).

Of course, this resignation shouldn't have come as a surprise to my boss or anyone that I worked with because I was never quiet about my desire to be a SAHM, even before I became pregnant. Once Jacob was born, I was happy to give my resignation as soon as my maternity leave (the paid part) was over. I certainly didn't want to do it too soon so I didn't lose any of my pay or benefits, but I wanted to help the office out by giving them plenty of notice. This way they could find a replacement for me before the season starts in early September.

The problem with this plan was that my boss asked me if I could come back for one week once my 12 weeks of FMLA were over (the first week in September) so that I could help them tie up some loose ends before the season started. I reluctantly said yes (I didn't really want to leave my baby boy with anyone for an entire week, but I wanted to help them out). My sister, Katie, agreed to watch Jacob even though she was going to be 36 weeks pregnant that week and already has a 2 1/2 year old running around (aren't sisters great?!...Thanks Katie!!).

Well, right before we were headed to NY, my team leader called and asked if I could have dinner with her. At dinner, she said that they had come up with a plan that didn't involve me having to work that week, unless I wanted to. I kindly told her that although I did love my job, it would be so much better for everyone if I didn't have to come in and I would just give my two weeks notice from that date, making my last day August 7th. I was so relieved to not have to worry about going in for that week and was happy that I could relieve Katie of babysitting duty.

Since we were headed out of town right after I met with her, I actually ended up mailing my resignation letter from my grandparents' house in NY. My boss & team leader were both aware that it was "in the mail" as I had sent them an unofficial e-mail resignation at their request so they could get the process of finding a replacement started. I didn't hear anything back from the office while we were on vacation, so I assumed that everything we had talked about and planned was fine. When we got back from vacation, on Thursday (the day before I was going in to clean out my office & do an exit interview with HR), I received this in the mail from the Football office:

In case you can't read it, it is a copy of my resignation letter sent back to me with the words "REQUEST DENIED" written on it. The envelope that I sent the letter in was also included with the words "RETURN TO SENDER" written on it.

I instantly recognized the handwriting as that of my boss, Gerry. He is a great guy and certainly a jokester (although I think he was serious this time!). It is very nice to know that they are not happy about me leaving and would love for me to stay. When I went in to clean out my office, Gerry and his assistant were both trying to give me all the reasons why I wouldn't want to leave. I simply held up Jacob and said that he was the reason why I had to leave!

I am not saying that I am not sad about not working there anymore because I already miss the people and the job every day! But I know that I would be more sad every day when I had to leave Jacob with someone else. He is already growing so fast and changing so much. I wouldn't want to miss any of that! As scary as it is to not have a second income anymore and to not have the socialization that I crave, I now believe that I have the best job in the world!