RTO Mandates Are Killing the Euphoric Work-Life Balance Some Moms Found

On days when Ellen went into the office, her mornings started around 6 a.m. She woke up with her 3-month-old baby and nursed him. Then she got him dressed. She got ready, too, and put on makeup. She packed a lunch, her breast pump, milk storage bags and anything else she needed. She said goodbye to her husband and son and drove 45 minutes in Austin traffic to get to her office.

At work she scheduled meetings around pumping sessions. If a meeting ran long, and they always did, she leaked through her shirt and had to change. At the end of the day, she drove another 45 minutes to get home by 6. She nursed the baby again. Coordinated dinner with her husband. Put her son to bed at 7:30 and prayed that he slept through the night—which, of course, he didn’t. She answered work emails, cleaned her pumping equipment, showered, prepared her son’s bottles for tomorrow and finally went to bed. All told, it was a 16-hour day, not counting her son’s middle-of-the-night feeding session. “It was nonstop,” Ellen says. “I was so depleted as a person, as a mom. And I only had to do it two days a week.”