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Would you say that your job is mom-friendly? What do you do?”

Asked by The Work It, Mom! Team on 25th January 2008

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Comments so Far...

I work in a small medical office and they are very family friendly. In an office full of 60 women, they can all relate to being a working mom, so they are easy to simpathize.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by babs on 28th January 2008
Yes, my immediate boss is the CEO and a mom herself, so she understands and allows for flexibility for appointments and leaving early on some days. I work for a non-profit Community Health Center in fundraising and administration roles.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by jesikaj on 28th January 2008
I'm lucky that my company has adopted very family-friendly policies and lets people telecommute a few days a week, or when someone's got a sick kid. (That's what I'm doing today, in fact!) I'm not sure how it'll be when my son's in school (vs daycare) and has parties, field trips, etc that I want to be part of. But I'm hoping that my company's flexibility will allow me to rework my schedule when that time comes (maybe so I'm working just mornings or something).

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Lee on 28th January 2008
I agree with what others have said -- the manager makes all the difference. My job is mom-friendly because of my manager. She "gets" what it means to be a working mom, primarily because she is one, too. I, in turn, try to never take advantage and always do my best to get my work done regardless of time I've taken off to care for a sick child, attend a school event, or other situations that may arise.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Mel on 28th January 2008
It is for the mothers I work for. For this mom? Not so much. It was very mom-friendly when my children were not in school. Once they started school, it ceased to work so well. I run a home daycare, so it's VERY difficult to get out during the day for school events, etc. I managed one or two field trips a year, but never one/child, which I wanted. Getting to appointments (dentist, doctor) is similarly difficult. There is no such thing as slipping out of the office in my job. So, overall? Not mom-friendly, no.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by MaryP on 28th January 2008
I am a portrait photographer. I photograph babies, children & families. It is very mom-friendly and totally flexible around my schedule. Most of the work happens after the pictures are taken so I can do that during naps and after bed-time.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Anne Dillon on 26th January 2008
I think my job is somewhat mom friendly, but like others have said it's more dependent on my boss than the actual job. I'm a GIS Analyst, working full-time with a contractor in a city's IT department. It's somewhat awkward in that I'm not an actual city employee, but I work in a city department. My bosses (both in my company and in my department) are fairly flexible, within reason, but it's a pretty typical 8-5 situation. The job itself would allow for more flexibility if it were permitted...

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Deb - Mom of 3 Girls on 26th January 2008
I think that my job is very mom friendly. Whenever Nick is sick they give me the time I need to take care of him. They try to help families get what they need. I work in a group home for troubled boys that also does family therapy to help get the whole family working better before we send the boys back home.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jacqueline on 26th January 2008
I'm a programmer analyst and I'd say it's fairly mom-friendly. However, I attribute this more to my direct supervisor than to the job itself. It's a very flexible job if your company will allow you to use it that way. I can work from home and as long as I'm hitting deadlines, it's not really important the hours i'm working. However, I must admit, trying to concentrate on code while my son is running around yelling "Yo Gabba Gabba!!" is a bit difficult!

Flag as inappropriate Posted by The Tattooed Mommie on 26th January 2008
Very interesting question for me because I used to think my job was very mom-friendly until... well I'm not exactly sure who changed my feeling. Was it my new boss or did baby #4 just put me over the edge. I'm a pharmaceutical rep (wanna-be writer) so my days are not spent in an office setting but rather calling-on physicians. I am able to take a few minutes between sales calls to run a quick errand or to be at the class holiday party, but I am also required to do all administrative work on my "own time", not during selling hours. My "own time" has always been when everyone is tucked sweetly into bed. For the last year or so it seems the amount of administrative work has tripled and Istill feel like I should be doing more. So, I guess it's a trade-off, I get to "be there" for the important things during the day, I just have little to no "me" (or "we"-hubby) time.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Writingfoursanity on 26th January 2008
My job is most definitely mom-friendly. Only 1 of my attorneys doesn't have children (and that includes my boss), so if something comes up and I have to leave for an hour or so, or be out because of something dealing with my daughter, there's no grief. Even my boss (a guy) shares child-rearing duty with his wife, so he's out at times with sick kids.

Flag as inappropriate Posted by JDaffron on 25th January 2008
Yes, my job is mom friendly. I work at a small public library. Our librarian is very laid back, he even brings his child up there occationally. He has no problem with sick days, or even if you just look alittle stressed, he'll ask if you are ok, and if you need to go. I guess the only thing stressful about my job is my Know-it-all co-worker and some of our insane patrons...lol!

Flag as inappropriate Posted by Grin and Bear It on 25th January 2008