Feeling a Career Disconnect ?

I love being at home with my two-year old son, but I've begun to feel really disconnected from the career path I enjoyed prior to his birth.  In a few years, I plan to return to the field I left, and I'm wondering if you have any recommendations about what I can do in the meantime to overcome this feeling of being out-of-the loop.

For many women, it can be tough to find an equilibrium between feeling firmly planted in the role of "mother" while also maintaining an identity as a member of the paid workforce. It's natural to miss the sort of fulfillment that you experienced through your (paid) job during the years before your child was born. While each person's work life is unique, it's common for women who choose to put their careers on hold for family reasons to feel some sort of gap in their lives, even though they've chosen to take on the incredibly important and rewarding role of full-time parent. You might miss a number of aspects of your former career -- perhaps it's having been a member of an especially cohesive team, or constantly having learned new skills related to your career passions, or perhaps the sense of accomplishment of having contributed an income to your family. A key thing to remember here is that it's perfectly normal to want a bit of both worlds.

So, how to create a sense of having your cake and eating it, too? Here are a few suggestions to help you re-connect with your career identity before going back to work:
Get re-involved with your local professional association chapter and attend meetings every month or so. These are often less expensive, shorter, and closer to home than a conference.
Sign up for a listserv related to your industry and commit to reading the digest format at least once per week.
Join or form a book club devoted to reading and discussing business/industry/career books. Stay current on what's hot in your area of work interest.
Contact colleagues from your former job(s) and plan to meet one of them for coffee or lunch every week or two. While the conversation doesn't have to be strictly business-oriented, you'll no doubt learn a bit about the latest in your contact's frame of career-reference.
If you can swing it financially and time-wise, attending a conference related to your career field can be a major boost. Even if you just attend for one day, this will help you to reestablish connections with your industry and colleagues, and it will also get you thinking about new, inspiring trends -- a sure way to begin feeling in the loop again. (Note: volunteering during the event will usually get you in the door for free or at a reduced cost.)
Start with just one of the ideas above, and you'll most likely begin to feel significantly more connected with what you've been missing, vis a vis your career.

By:  Alexandra Jenkins