Saturday was my first day back at work.  I only worked the morning and did my very popular monthly “Donuts with Dad” program.  People weren’t expecting to see me back quite yet, so I had some very excited kids actually chanting my name they were so happy to see me.  (I love my job.)  When I was cleaning up after the program, one of my co-workers stopped to talk to me and we ended up getting into a more-than-superficial conversation about parenting and childcare.  She has a young daughter (less than 2 years old, I think) who she takes to a daycare while she’s at work during the week when her husband is also at work, so this is all very current for her.  She asked me if it was hard to be back at work.  She asked me if it felt like I was missing a piece of my body.  I thought about it for a minute and had to admit, that …. no, it didn’t.  Was this because Baby Dude was at home happily sleeping next to J instead of in a daycare with “strangers”?  Or is this an adoption thing?  I mean, he wasn’t EVER “a part of my body” so do I feel less physically attached to him because I’ve only known him for 6 weeks and I’m still, in some ways, slowly allowing myself to believe in my deepest heart that he really is my son forever?  Does he feel less like “part of my body” because I’m not constantly attached to him while nursing?  Or is this just a difference in our personalities?  I don’t regret not experiencing that sensation (who wants to be missing part of their body?) and I don’t feel particularly guilty about it, but I’m just curious.