Endings & Beginnings

It’s Tuesday! I feel this deserves an exclamation point because it’s Not! Monday! It also deserves an exclamation point because it’s the the Second-to-Last! Day! of this job. Thank baby jebus.

I left Company L last May because of layoffs and pay cuts and honestly, it seemed like a sinking ship. I got another job offer for a position working with Company I that sounded like a dream, so I jumped at it. It wasn’t so bad until I realized that my boss hates babies, particularly my babies, and also thinks that children should get sick on a schedule. And when I leave my kids with my day care provider when they are are sick rather than keeping them at home in order to keep from calling out of the office, and my day care provider gets sick, that should happen on a schedule. I should provide at weeks notice for times when I will have to call in sick. I’m only kidding a little.

From an actual email from my boss this year after I had to call out a few times b/c of vomity* children: “We spoke about your pattern of attendance last November**… You have used 3 out of your total 6 Sick days allotted for the year… please make an effort to plan your time out of the office more carefully.”

What. The. Fuck? Who PLANS VOMITING except for bulimics? Is she saying that my children are bulimic? Or is she just really, really stupid? I’m going with stupid. This woman is the worst boss I’ve ever had – and two of my previous bosses sexually harassed and/or propositioned me.

When Company L approached me a couple of weeks ago, I figured it was for some contract work. I left on good terms, and I had worked there for 3 years – I had worked hard, and I had worked in 4 different departments. I know the company & the business process & the people very well. I implemented an enterprise-level CRM & web integration solution while heavily pregnant. Dammit, I loved that company and they ruined it with their pay cuts & their sinking ship. So I thought.

They didn’t want contract work, they wanted to hire me back, in an expanded version of my previous position working with multiple departments, as the Business Tech. Admin. The pay is a little higher, the hours more flexible, and it’s with people I want to work with. The only downside is no more commuting with my husband & working near him. But I also won’t be constantly miserable and fearful that I am going to lose my job if my kid gets anything worse than the sniffles and keeps me out of work.

I wasn’t sure about the stability of the company at first, but I spoke with a few of my old coworkers – it’s a smaller crew now, but things are looking up. Salaries have been restored, there are no more forced furloughs, and certain crappy managers (including the worthless President) have left or stepped down.

I’m excited. I’m excited to do a job that I know I will love. I’m excited to have the flexibility to work home if it’s necessary. I’m excited to be with people my own age again (it’s a much younger company than the one I am now as far as average employee age) and I’m excited because they already know me – I already know them. I can hit the ground running. They remembered my work and asked me for this position first. I feel sort of important, you know? Wanted. Needed. It’s a good feeling.

I’m mostly excited to be done with the stress of this job. The stress of being a full-time working mother who needs to fear for her livelihood because her boss refuses to be flexible.  Because only one other person here is the parent of young children. Because the job wasn’t as described in the first place, so it’s unfulfilling.

SQUEE.

* Yes, that’s a word.  Anything can be a word if you submit it to Urban Dictionary.
** She wrote me up for my “attendance patterns” after she forgot that I needed to be out of the office to take my mother to get scanned for cancer. But she has a mind like a steel trap! She wouldn’t forget that! She asked me to reschedule the cancer appointment. Because another employee had vacation that day, and it would be the end of the fucking world if someone wasn’t there to answer the phones. No, it would be the end of the fucking world if my mother had had cancer, you douchecanoe. Oh, and I HAD TIME LEFT OVER at the end of the year. GAH!

PS. My kids are very sick, so I’m a little slow on email and on geek projects, but once they’re better I’ll be back up to speed. MUAH. Email me anyway.

PPS. Ewokmama wrote a great post about her experience as a working mama, too, and I love it, so I am sharing.