Whether you're a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, your job is hard. Period. If you're not trying to plan dinner while you're negotiating a contract, you're trying to plan dinner while you're mediating a battle in the playroom.
I've been in both spaces, and I've also had my share of women supervisors without children. I guess I've been lucky--most of them were very understanding about my mom-work balance struggle. But I completely understand where Kristen Darguzas is coming from with her post on childless bosses on workitmom.com. Here's a snippet of the blog post, a conversation with one of her office-based comrades, describing her own boss:
“She’s nice,” Martha confided in me, as we discussed our work-life balance over coffee on my couch,”But working at 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon or 8 p.m. on a Wednesday is the norm for her. And so she expects it of me. The kids aren’t an acceptable excuse. I’d kill for a Dad boss, or even another Mom with kids who knows my pain, you know?”
Do you have a childless boss, and what types of hassles has she given you about trying to balance your motherly duties in the workplace?
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Comments 6
My old job i worked in the advertising field and i had a childless boss and she was not very understanding regarding anything that had to do with children. Same as above she thought that since she could do work all day long stay until 10pm in the office that work should be everyones first priority. A lot of tension in the office because we were about 6 women trying to finish our job for the day be stuck in traffic and go home to our children. She always critized and said she'd rather be sucessful and make the big bucks with no children and hubby than to find a loser have kids and settle down with. So glad Im no longer there.
OMG! I have been there! You want to be a fly on the wall when the childless boss has twin toddlers with A.D.D.!
I had almost the same experience as Marley! I worked at a marketing firm for a year and a half before I quit to be a stay at home mom. My boss was a witch about guilting me into staying late. She even asked me if I could come back into work with my baby AFTER I picked her up at the end of the day, so I could help her prepare a client report that she procrastinated on for months. She always pretended to be understanding because our company claims to have a "family-oriented" culture, but she once told me that she wished she could've interviewed me too. She said she wouldnt have hired a mom with an infant and a husband in law school- I am pretty sure that is discrimination according to EEO standards.
Now she is pregnant and will finally understand the great working-mommy juggling act all too soon. Best of luck to her ;)
I'm afraid of heights and, oh yeah, childless bosses. Although, in fairness, the one I had last was great. Cool post!
I have had the childless boss whom didn't even like kids....that was my most unpleasant work experience!!!
I have a childless boss currently. I recently had the occasion to speak with her re: some unexpected absences that occurred when my youngest had a spiked a fever at 6:30 in the morning. Which means of course that I could not take him to daycare and had to stay home with him. I was eventually out for 2 days that were unexcused and was trying to ask for some excutive leniency from her.
HA ! She was totally unsympathetic and even condescending. She restated 3 different times in our converstation that I needed to "manage my time better!"
I wanted to hit her!! But didn't of course as I am still employed there. I finally asked her just exactly HOW she would have "planned better" in my situation. Well my husband and I have already discussed our roles when we finally have children... blah blah... and I would hope that the schools would be there or a babysitter blah blah etc etc... She obviously has NO CLUE. As one of my co-workers then pointed out to her.... You know what you cannot "plan" when a child is going to break an arm..or wake up with a 103 degree temp... or gets the chicken pox... you simply try to react as best as you can...
I hope I am still around when she finally has children and gets the wake up call of her life!!!!!