I’ve been very upfront and frank with my boss about missing my child and how little this job actually brings in after Clive’s lost wages from not being able to work as often now that he’s responsible for Ash every Saturday and on Thursday evenings, and so she knew that I was having a hard time working as many hours as I am. Also, I’ve made it clear that I have another blog on which I speak about this kind of thing a lot, and because I am so google-able, I’m sure she also reads this site, so, hi, April!.
Now, whether or now I’ll feel balanced with this solution is to be determined, here’s what we’ve come up with: first, it starts with a pretty significant raise that was my employer’s idea. It makes a lot of difference at month end and will definitely ease the financial strain a little bit. I wasn’t expecting it, considering I am technically just a retail clerk and the store has been open for two months. I appreciate the raise a lot, and especially because it WILL make a difference in the quality of my family’s life. I believe I deserve it, because I’ve taken on a lot of responsibility and my skill set really matches her needs.
Second up, she’s approved my idea to take Wednesdays off each week. This means Ash will only be in day care for three days a week, home with me for three days a week and home with Clive for one day a week. It means he gets quality time alone with Clive, a family day with both of us (most Sundays of each month, though Clive sometimes has to work all day) and two days alone with me, which is fantastic, and honestly, it sounds pretty much perfect.
Third, because the raise is great but I still need to make X amount of money to make this entire thing worth it, I’m going to be working some evenings doing website work. It gives me my missing hours and it saves her 1. having to hire someone else to do the updates and/or 2. paying out the ass for website work, which, if you don’t know, I generally charge $50-$75/hr for web development. I get to stay at home and work while Ash sleeps in the evening and because it’s pretty mindless photo editing/stock updating/product adding, it means that I can still watch my shows (most recently is So You Think You Can Dance, yay!) and relax.
Like I said, I’m not sure if this is the answer, but I feel like 100lbs has been lifted off of me, knowing that I can spend more time with my kid in a relaxed environment in the middle of the week- rather than say, a Tuesday where I’ve just spent two full days with him and honestly need a little bit of a break.
Fingers crossed that this is the harmony I’ve been looking for.
