(From the Sydney Mum archive, originally published 2015.)

Returning to work after having children can be quite challenging, especially if you had to give up your job altogether and you have been away from your desk for a few years. Motherhood has catapulted you into a world made of nappies, lunch boxes, tantrums, and playgroups and now you wonder if you are still capable to do your old job properly. If you are still the smart, efficient, skilled woman you were before the baby hurricane. It is a big challenge for your self-esteem: starting all over again, now with a family on your shoulders. Can you make it? The answer is Yes, absolutely Yes. I suggest you find a copy of your latest CV and read it out loud: you’ll surprise yourself in re-discovering how many things you have done in your working life, how many skills and qualifications you have. And what about the reference letters, what do they say? That woman described in those papers is still there, it is still you. You may have gone up one size and may need to re-train to use the new office software but think of the new skills you have learnt being a mum and that you can now add to your CV: flexibility, creativity, patience, wisdom, and surely some fierce determination. Luciana De Michiel. Luciana is a Sydney mum of three and the first private provider of online counselling for women in Australia. www.emotioncounselling.com