A couple days ago there was an interesting post over at Work It, Mom!. In the post Coming out of the closet… as a mom, Nataly wrote about a couple of moms who keep their mommyhood private in the workplace. They feel they lose credibility. This reminded me of a job interview I had thirteen years ago when I was pregnant with Keaton.

I was interviewing for a front office position at a large chiropractic office. I was around seven months pregnant, so it was slightly obvious I was “in the family way.” The woman I was interviewing with was an older woman, probably very traditional. The interview was going well until near the end. I assume she noticed I was not wearing a wedding ring and her curiosity got the best of her. The hours for this position were from 11am to 8pm. I told her that was fine. [I'm really not a morning person anyway so those seemed like perfect hours to me.] She asked, “Will your husband be ok with you working that late?” I looked down at my hands as I stammered, “Oh I’m not married.” She gave me a blank stare. I blinked back at her. It was obvious that was the turning point in the job interview.

That was the last time I spoke to her. I didn’t get the job.

When Keaton was just a few weeks old I got hired by a major Midwest cell phone company. As a file clerk. It was the most boring job ever, but I had to pay bills so a file clerk I was. However, Keaton and daycare didn’t mix well. He came home with a cold quite frequently. I had him at the doctor’s office at least once a week from Halloween to Valentine’s Day. He had constant ear infections. Then a persistent diaper rash that required prescription medicine. [He still has very sensitive skin to this day and gets a rash on his stomach from the nickel on the button of his jeans if I don't put surgical tape or sew fabric over the top.] And then he started with a cold that turned in to bronchitis and then RSV and finally pneumonia [or the other way around, I can't remember know]. My mom took days off to stay home with him. My dad took days off to stay home with him. My roommate [and best friend] even took days off to stay home with him. But my boss was not impressed. Even though I hadn’t yet used up all of my vacation and sick days, my boss fired me just days before my six month anniversary [which happens to still be in the 'probationary period'].

But even after those experiences I’m still a proud mama at work. I display photos of my kids and I’m not afraid to talk about them. And when I leave early to go to their games or school parties or whatever I don’t feel like I have to lie about it. Being a mom is part of who I am. In fact being a mom has given me some skills that help in the workplace. My kids have definitely taught me patience and organization. Luckily I now work for a company that is fairly family friendly so I don’t have to worry about it. Those other jobs just weren’t meant to be. Now I have a job where I make more money, have more respect, and [usually] enjoy what I do. And I don’t have to hide the fact that I’m a mom.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Working hard or hardly working. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.