Saturday - "I hate working weekends!" - The Plastic Ceiling Project

Saturday - "I hate working weekends!"

29/4/2017

Marion

30/4/2017 09:01:16 am

Fortunately when I had my daughter I was in a 9 - 5 job. However conferences or meeting were at weekends. The thing that helped the most was having a supportive husband and family who would help with childcare. I sometimes felt guilty going off on my own but mainly I would miss being with my daughter and miss being at any family gatherings that were instigated as a result of child care needs.

Diane

30/4/2017 09:09:50 am

I begrudge working weekends. I work hard and long hours in the week but ut is never enough so i have to work for a couple of hours every weekend. I feel so guilty. My boys are old enough to occupy themselves but it doesn't ease my guilt.

Kate

30/4/2017 09:29:07 am

When I first starting teaching, around 3 years ago, my weekends were full of lesson planning and prep etc. I now manage my time so that I don't do any weekend work at all. My weekend are all about the children and that's what eases my guilt of working like a mad woman in the week. Xx

Donna

30/4/2017 09:45:28 am

I HATE working at the weekend! It takes time away from family, my little one and me! It has to happen otherwise my deadlines wouldn't get done and so I put my child to bed and work or do it whilst he is playing.

My managers have an assumption that work will happen over a weekend and don't really make allowances for family commitments. When I say I couldn't do x because of a birthday or family events or because I want to snuggle my child then I feel guilty.

Luckily my son is very good at understanding that mummy has to work and his dad will look after him but then I feel I need to over compensate for the lack of being there!

Claire

30/4/2017 01:16:16 pm

I've always studied and worked so always tricky fitting it completely around family. I have found myself getting up very early or starting work very late to avoid the children's time being taken. The difficulty with that approach is that you are then tired and distracted by the thought of having to work later! Gets more challenging as the children get older and stay up later. It's so difficult balancing career/ study with a constant want to be a good mum. Just need a few more hours in the day :-)

Donna

30/4/2017 02:04:56 pm

I agree Claire a few more hours would be so helpful!

Anna

30/4/2017 02:55:13 pm

I always felt such resentment having to work weekends. Children's football commitments meant that I tried to keep Sat free, but invariably, Sunday would become a work day. I can still conjure up that knot in my stomach/cloud descending sensation of a Sunday particularly during afternoon and evening. On so many occasions, I would ask my husband to take the kids swimming or sth so I could work...not good...and this was one of my main reasons to leave full time work. I can't speak for other jobs, careers or professions but as a teacher, I think work can become all consuming and is hard to "leave at the office".

Sam

1/5/2017 08:16:10 am

Working out of 'normal' hours fills me with panic! Sorting child care all day at a weekend for mine or over night is hard and I feel work colleagues have no idea. I can fit home based work around them by starting early or working late but working away, without support is too much for me.

Wendy

1/5/2017 08:24:51 am

Although I love studying and get excited about it being left at home whilst my husband took the children off for days out - I did at times become resentful and want to be with them - but knew I could not. They have as adults not reflected on that - but I am going to ask them! My son is a teacher and we often go out as a family without him on a Sunday as he plans...

vicky duckworth

1/5/2017 11:10:07 am

I don't mind working weekends as I enjoy to pull my research together in my own .... the research is linked to my own ideologies and it drives me ... it is empowering and I hope empowers.
When I was doing my PhD with a young family it was tough ... Craig would take the girls out to the park etc on beautiful days and I would be stuck inside on the computer ... I thought of giving it up ... but I knew that it would be empowering ....organisations can take your day to day labour but in many ways the intellectual labour cannot be taken ... this is important to me.

2/5/2017 10:04:19 am

This is why I went part time after my second child and I'm still part time now. So my 'days off' I catch up on work and study for my PhD and this leaves most weekends free. I know there is a financial implication in this and probably not too clever as I look towards retirement but it is how I've made it work.

Elaine link

3/5/2017 09:27:50 pm

Working at the week-end is an issue in many occupations but especially in teaching. When the children were little I would work after they had gone to bed in order to try and protect family time but as they get older that becomes impossible. I always feel guilty when I have to work during family time but the children understand that there are times when I have to priorities work and times when I can devote extra time to them so the guilt is a little less now. My children take part in competitive sport and train 10-12 hours a week so I often take my laptop to complete work when they are training. This seems like an ideal solution but they do notice if I am not paying any attention which still makes me feel guilty.

Claire Stevens

5/5/2017 11:39:27 am

I have to work through weekends occasionally to meet deadlines and I do feel guilty and resentful when it eats into family time. I'm sometimes joined by kids doing homework which is quite companionable, but I'm not sure if I'm giving a good or a bad example of work/life balance!

5/5/2017 09:36:44 pm

so last weekend and this weekend I'm on a first aid course thro work .. no extra pay ... no child care ... no cares given ... bloody nightmare ... it suits the bosses lifestyle but not mine ... no child care ... guilt .. stress and what for ... a certificate ... starting my own business to be my own boss is the way forward this year ...

Liana

6/5/2017 08:54:35 am

As my experiences of being a working parent are mostly related to my life in Soviet Georgia, I can say I was lucky in a way, as it was not a common practice for Soviet employees to work over weekends.

Saturday - "I hate working weekends!"

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