This picture really doesn't have anything to do with anything. I just like it. So there you go. Anyway...I have noticed I have gotten away from writing anything worth anything and just throwing up some pictures and a discription, which isn't the reason I started writing this blog. When I started this I was staying home with my kiddos, selling real estate and working with Aaron. I loved it. I left teaching when I had Ben and it was awesome to be able stay home,fix my kids a good breakfast, play with them without thinking of what I should be doing, volunteer in my kiddos classrooms, clean my house, cook, actually fold laundry, etc. etc. Well as everyone knows, the housing market crashed, therefore putting a dent in the ole housing market (our business) and the real estate market, which go hand in hand, but when you are married to a builder who built primarily spec houses, whoa baby. So long story short, we moved back to my husbands hometown, I went back to work full time and somehow managed to get all three of my kids in school. Without any major accidents. This is very important when you have two older kids who loved legos and polly pockets, and a little guy who was walking at 9 months and into everything! Anyway, I did not go back to teaching, instead I got a job at a public library as a children's programmer, which means I do things like storytimes, and craft hours, and outreach. It also means I work 8-5, Monday through Friday and year round. It also means I have to deal with this little thing called PTO (paid time off) It is the curse or blessing of the working mother. In my case it is the curse! Because every time I turn around a child is sick and I have to use some of it and I can't build any up! Also, I nickel and dime it to death. 2 hours here, an hour there, you get the drift. Sooooo I have approximately 24 hours and 32 minutes (I'm kidding) I do only have 26 hours, and I have worked there a year and a half. It is somewhat of an office joke :) Cause just when I get it built up, someone gets really sick or stubs their toe or I need to get my hair done!
So today I am sitting there thinking if we can just make it til next Friday, then I get more PTO hours....You do realize where I am going with this, right? I am also thinking, man there is a huge flu bug snorting around out there and half of the kids in Jacob's class have been absent all week. Fingers crossed, saying prayers, not stepping on cracks, you name it, and then my cell phone rings, oh a number I don't recognize, so I answer. Lo and Behold it is the school nurse, and she says Ben has chicken pox, you need to come get him right now.
Well that's not possible cause I have a program in 10 minutes, so I call my husband, and no answer, then my mother in law to the rescue. So I go to my program all frazzled cause he had the vaccination and who in the HELL has the pox at school? The nurse said no one did. Hmmmmmmm. Just my luck.
I get through my program, then talk to my husband and he got him a doctors appointment, which we had to go in the back door and be quarantiened because apparantly the chicken pox are even worse than the H1N1. But for future reference I think I will always say I think it's the pox cause damn you get in and out of there fast. 20 minutes tops and we were heading home, with a diagnosis of who knows? It could be the pox, or any other virus that is out there, except the flu (thank the lord),mainly just watch and see. And my selfish self is thinking 'How many hours will I have to miss, or make up?" So answer me this, especially the mom's who work outside of the home, how do you balance this? My husband and I really do a good job of taking turns and working together, but do you ever eventually work up some time off? Time to have just for the hell of it, cause you need a mental health day? Because lord I need a mental health day, all by myself. How is that for selfish?
5 comments:
I have right at 30 hours of PTO in my bank right now and am blowing 16 hours of it this week with a sick day and a 3-day girls weekend. I try to save up and always have a week of vacation, but it's hard with holidays coming up and taking off for this or that.
I'm right there with you and feel your PTO pain! It has to do a lot with balance like you said. Today Steve took the girls to get their H1N1 vaccines, and other times I'll take off for dr visits, etc. Hope that everyone at your house gets well over the weekend so you won't have to use up more hours next week. --Dawn
My kids are grown now, but when they were younger and I taught school, my principal gave me a hard time when I had to take off for a sick kiddo because that was "sick time for me and not my kids, so technically I shouldn't be paid" She did me "a great favor"!!! Now, many years later i work part time at a bank and have sick time and personal time and the bosses get really nasty and analyze whether you're really sick enough to take a day off! and then talk about you because you insist on taking off. Last year I used one day and lost the rest, this year isn't looking any better. and next year part time gets none!!! Good luck, somehow the kids always come first. What is mental health anyway when you have kids!!! (Lost a Sock's mom)
I feel your pain! When I taught school I only received 10 sick days including personal days for the year! With sicknesses I was constantly having to juggle taking time off! When I ran the daycare, Heath was the sole-provider in running our kids to the dr. or taking time off with them because I have staffing issues and he had PTO! Luckily now with me staying home during the day I can be home with a sick kid. I know waitressing is not future job career...but it is working well for us at this point with me being able to stay at home during the day and him staying at home at night with the kids! Best of both worlds I guess??? Good luck to you and I've been there! :)
I love, LOVE reading your blog! Your sense of humor cracks my A$$ up. I hear ya with the mindless blogging and I'm glad to have a post with some reality sewn into it! I feel like all I say is usually to the effect of, "Alena did this (pic). Alena did that (pic)". And that's it! Hope the pox clears and the PTO Fairy visits you very soon!
Oh Erica...I wish that I could say that I have felt your pain...but somehow by the grace of God I have been lucky enough to have escaped and been a SAHM for {most} of the kids' lives. But when I did work and Jackson was little I constantly worried about it...I totally admire all of you mom's out there who juggle both home and career bec I can't even imagine having 3 kiddos and being able to handle it all!! You all are awesome!! Hang in there! You are doing a great job, your kids will admire you for it! :)
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