Your Boss Don't Care

As a single parent being a stay at home mom is not an option unless you are some sort of celebrity with millions in the bank. The 40hr or even 40+hr work week is not uncommon for the single parent, especially if the other parent does not provide their required support.

If you are lucky your place of business will have permanent hours that will provide you with a  routine work schedule to make finding a sitter easier. A close friend of mine works at a place like that, they also adore her so they work with her amazingly so that her and her daughters needs are both met.

Not everyone can be so lucky. This I have learned. I love my job, however one of the downfalls is a constantly changing work schedule. Every week I work different days and different times. I myself am blessed to have my mother as my full time nanny and since I also live in the same house it is more convenient for me to work the random schedules I work.

There are some very important things I have learned along the way once I started working as a single parent. If you step into this situation these are good things to know!

1. Your bosses don't care.
       While they may say they do ( and they may grow to if you earn that respect) if you are a new employee, realistically they don't care. So don't be fooled. Keep whatever problems you have with a babysitter or a sick child to yourself, don't expect their help or understanding, that's not their job, and you just do what you have to do.

2. Don't try to make them understand
      If your boss does not have a child then they don't understand how hard it really is being away from them as much as you are when you work a lot. While they say they understand, and some may try to because sometimes its hard leaving their dog, or significant other at home, lets be honest, the dog and significant other can take care of themselves for 8 hours. Child services wont understand you leaving your kids home alone, even if you compare them to your bosses dog. So Again just do what you have to do. Leave it at the door before clocking in.

3. Deal with it
    I don't bring my sick children or babysitter troubles to work, because of point 1 and 2. I handle it myself without the subject ever being brought to attention at work. Doing so makes you look more reliable as an employee and in return when an emergency turns up that does affect work your boss is more flexible to work with you. So don't use the my kid is sick excuse every time you oversleep. Your boss is not there to help you deal with your children, they are running a business. Deal with it.

Understanding these things makes the work place better for you in the long run. This I know from experience. In my 90 day review with my boss she said she forgets I have children sometimes, simply because I don't talk about them or issues with them at work. The people I work closest with at my job have no children, therefore I don't share to much personal things that happen with my children.  However because I don't bring the issues with them to work constantly my boss is understanding of times when I cannot avoid it. For example when my mother is unavailable I have a back up sitter. On weekends my back up sitter charges double, with two children to go to work I end up losing money. My boss has recently pulled me aside and let me know that in situations like that when I am needed at work I should come directly to her because she wants to be able to help out with those situations. I earned her respect as an employee and single parent and in return she now became part of my support system.