November 20, 2003
And how.
Halley really nails some of the crappiness inherent in being a working parent.
I've been a parent for five years and working in an office for three. With childless co-workers on one side and at-home moms on the other, some days are a game you just can't win. You'll miss school pickup if you work late. Attending the class Halloween parade means using up one more vacation day. You know, the ones you have to save for sick kids. Hey working moms, did you know that other people use vacation days for... get this... VACATION?!
No matter how many cupcakes you bake, Halloween costumes you sew, and 5th birthday bashes you organize, there's always a failure waiting around the corner to smack you down again. Like the day I remembered Morgan's birthday party an hour after it was over. Or the day I forgot about a field trip and brought Trevor to school after the bus had departed. Or the day last month that the drive home took two hours instead of 45 minutes and I had to call an emergency contact to pick him up.
There's so much to do and remember and no easy way to keep track of it all. Even if you could, it's impossible to fit everything into the 24 short hours in the day.
One more thing that Halley mentions... a service which will care for your child in an emergency. Our employer offers one of those "benefits" as well. I tried to take them up on the "short-term, drop-in care" on a day when my regular caregiver was sick. It was a Hebrew school an hour from my office that was open from 10 to 12. Some backup plan.