For the past few months, I have been teetering on the edge of lunacy, working more hours with not enough daycare,
staying up too late to meet deadlines during the exact period of time
my toddler's begun waking up literally at the crack of dawn and feeling
like every task is accomplished by some minor miracle rather than brain
power or energy exertion. And even though I regularly feel like I'm
holding the entire world on my tensed up shoulders, I know all too well
that this is a very familiar scenario for every working mother I know.
The pull of professional and personal stretches many of us working mothers very thin, so I love insights, like this one from CareerBuilder.com's CSO and mother of three Mary Delaney, on how to avoid the strain on both sides.
First,
the professional sanity. Although I've yet to hear a real account from
someone I know who works for a company that actively tries to reduce
all this working parent insanity, there are apparently women who have
worked out some pretty good professional situations with their
employers. The existence of parent-friendly companies is supported by a
CareerBuilder.com survey of over a thousand full-time working mothers.
Four out of ten respondants cite access to flexible work arrangements
with their employers. I personally have yet to meet these four, but I
am sure they really do exist. The programs and the women. No, really. I
am sure they do.
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