Working Moms - Time Off

My husband and I work together. We try to alternate when the kids are sick and need to be home/taken to the Dr. I don't take more than 40hrs of sick time in the entire YEAR. But most working moms that I personally know (no offense to those that don't or do), don't make upwards of $70K/yr and the larger portion of the family income. If I was the one making less, I'd probably be more inclined to stay home in any instance needed.

But let me tell you... The company I work for... Rarely lays off (crosses fingers - hasn't laid off since 78) and I've only seen a handful of people get fired. It took a LOT for that handful to get fired. So, my situation is different than most (I think). We have it pretty good and easy here.

As far as 'keep mommy sane days', probably once a month (but I have 3wks paid vacation). I usually use the first wk as a 'day here/day there' and take a weeks vacation with family and a weeks vacation for ME.

So much of this depends on what type of company you work for and what your boss is like. I've had good and bad enviornments. I had one boss who talked like he was family friendly - but when it came down to it he always made client appts for me later in the afternoon when I couldn't get home from the city until after daycare closed, etc. But overall - my bosses have been pretty good about allowing me to work less than full time and that make a HUGE difference becuase I can take care of family stuff when I'm scheduled to be out. Another big thing is whether or not you can get any work done from home. My work lends itself to that - I do financial anaylsis and consulting work so I can do a lot of it at home. They prefer that we're in the office - but when needed I can sit at my computer at home and log in to my office "desktop". Another big thing is how well you do your job and if you're consciencious. My clients know they can reach me on my cell phone after hours and when I'm out of the office. That makes it much easier to convince my boss that I can work in an unsupervised situation.

Aside from all that - as a working M. you need a day to yourself once in a while. When my kids were young and in daycare I would take off a day every so often (maybe once every three months) - and still bring them to daycare. It enabled me to get stuff done that I couldn't do with little ones around my feet. It was nice to have a morning and afternoon alone in my house - such a treat!!! But once I had kids I NEVER got to the end of the year with days to carry over. But I was always concious of how many days I had left an always tried to hold on to a few for Decmeber to bake or clean or wrap presents - or just take a day off with the kids.

Bottom line is that when you get to the end of your life you will never wish that you had spent more time at work. But I think everyone wishes they could spend more time with the people they love - whether kids, parents, best friends, etc. For me it was worth taking a pay cut in order to be home when the kids get out of school - we drive old cars, we wear old clothes (not too old) and we shop for EVERYTHING using coupons - got my DH trained too. We go on "minivan" vacations - haven't flown to a vacation destination since we splurged on Disney 5+ years ago - but I get to be with my kids every afternoon as they grow up. Priceless.

I have a 21 month old and I often feel like I don't have enough time to take care of myself. So about once per month I take a mental health day during the week while baby is in school. I am lucky to have a lot of flexibility at work and can, and do leave early or come in late if I need to attend to baby, medical appt, etc... My son has been sick a lot in the winter so I had to do this fairly often - 3-4 times per month. I've struggled with not being as productive at work since baby arrived, but let's face it, taking care of another human being full-time is a lot of work and we can't possibly expect to be just as productive at work as we were before ever having kids. I try to remind myself of this and give myself a break when it comes to work productivity.

Whenever I have to. When my middle child had RSV at 6 months old, I went into negative time off and ended up with my pay being cut severely, but my employer is very family friendly and they believe we are adults and know when we really need to be home. They also believe family needs are important and will do whatever they can to be accomodating. My husband is usually home days and we only have a 3 1/2 hour overlap (at most) between our schedules since he works evenings, so if someone is sick at home one of us just has to miss a chunk of time rather than a whole day. Some months we have no illnesses or family issues, other months I might miss a week or more. It truly varies.

Probably once a month unplanned. But I try to take personal/vacation/unpaid time whenever I can if plans are made...

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My schedule is somewhat flexible and I have the ability to work remotely from home. If I have to take an unscheduled day off, I often try to put in extra hours somewhere to make sure my deliverables are still on time. That would be on a weekend or in the evening. I am a single M., so the burden is mostly on me. As kids have gotten older, it has become much easier to handle. When they were little there was a lot more scrambling and shuffling, grandparents assisted quite a bit back then.

I usually take about 8 hours a month. Usually my husband and I take turns being off if one of the kids is sick or has a doctor's appointment. This helps me from being absent so much. I don't feel pressure myself, unless I have a big project due and have to be out without warning. My job is very family friendly and are always understanding when things come up that require me to miss work.
For me personally, I find that it does help with the pressure to stay organized and on top of my time both at work and home. I use Google calendar to keep a home calendar, and I share the calendar with my husband's google account. Everything goes on that calendar, from doctor's appointments to weekend plans. For work, I keep a running to-do list using Google docs. Each week I start a new to-do list and carry the unfinished tasks from the previous week, organizing them based on priority. I even use Google docs to write up home tasks- especially if I think of something that needs to be taken care of at home while I am work. Using both Google docs and calendar has made me ten times more efficient at home and work.
Hope this helps!

Since I've been with my company for over 10 years, I'm earing quite a bit of vacation time so I schedule a day off when necessary. I've also proven myself as a valuable employee so I can ocassionally work from home in an emergency situation.

However, years ago it was a different situation. I would call in sick if absolutely needed, I would schedule appointments on Saturdays. One time I went in for 2 hours, then went to the eye doctor, took my daughter for a physical, and my ob/gyn on the same day, working from home inbetween, so it was only a 1/2 day off. Hubby also helps out a lot. It's all about scheduling and making it a team effort.

I think attendence at work is very important. Since my mornings are the busiest, if I need to take time off I schedule the appt. late in the day and leave early. I also try to go in early one day that week to make up the time. I know my employer appreciates it and it's reflected in my annual review.

On a average, I take 3 or 4 days a year.

I rarely take time off in a given month. Really, only I'm going on a trip and need it.

That said, I'm in mgmt at a major company, and I have a very flexible schedule. So if I need to leave early, I do, and it's fine. (I don't take time off for doctor's apts, or stuff. I just leave when I need to go and schedule things at the end of the day, typically)

So my work/life balance is pretty good.