My company allows me to work from home two days a week. I cannot tell you how much that rocks. But I do have one problem with it. The phone.

See in the office I have to dial a ’9′ before I dial the number I want to call. And, of course, at home I don’t have to do that. But it never fails. When I’m at home I dial a ’9′ and when I’m at work I always forget and just dial the number.

I have a daily call for a customer I’ve been working with for my entire life [ok, it's only been about six months but it feels like my entire life]. The conference bridge is a toll free number. There is a girl at extension 1877 that I think is getting a little ticked off with my refusal to dial a ’9′ while I’m in the office. Every day I’m in the office I forget the ’9′ and just start dialing 1-877 and it immediately rings this poor girl. I’m pretty sure she’s ready to hunt me down and beat the crap out of me.

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.

I was going to blog about this article in the On Balance blog on the Washington Post’s website. Then I worked a 12 hour day and I thought, maybe blogging about work today isn’t the best idea. But I’m a wild and crazy gal, so here goes.

I actually saw something about this a while back in one of the parenting magazines I get. [I'd tell you which parenting magazine, but I get quite a few and I don't remember which one it was.] I remember the parenting magazine made some of these same points. Parents [especially mothers] know how to multi-task and how to prioritize. Yes, we have less energy, but we’ve learned how to pack more in to less time.

Before I was a parent, I often stayed late. But I stayed late because I spent much of my day chatting with my co-workers knowing I had the time to finish stuff up later. Now that I’m a mom, I know I want to be out the door at 5:30pm because I have agendas to sign, books to listen to as my kids read them to me, homework to help with and hungry mouths that need to be fed a healthy meal [not fast food]. So now I have to prioritize my day to make sure I can get out the door at 5:30pm. Even today I left work early so I could run to the store, get home to give hugs and kisses and then finish my work day from home.

But besides multi-tasking and prioritizing, being a parent has helped me deal with people. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes run in to people who make my seven year old’s look mature. Being a parent I have learned the patience [sometimes] to deal with these people. Being a parent, I have learned to talk so somebody will listen. My kids taught me quickly that yelling at them gets me nowhere. Instead I had to find ways to talk to them that made them think cleaning their room was their idea.

Being a parent I have learned to stand up for myself. I was extremely shy as a child. I rarely stood up for myself. But then I had children and I realized I had to teach them to stand up for themselves. And I wasn’t going to do that if I didn’t do it for myself. Plus now that I have kids I don’t have time to wrestle with bullshit. I don’t want to hear excuses. I don’t want to discuss for hours on end why you think you’re right. I just want to cut to the chase and make decisions. I’m a busy and tired girl after all. I don’t have time to let somebody walk all over me anymore.

Now that I’m a parent, I have more responsiblity. Prior to parenthood I switched jobs about as often as I changed my underwear. [Ok, maybe not that often, cause I swear I change my underwear daily.] I got bored, I got a new job. I didn’t like my boss, I got a new job. A co-worker was a total slacker and that really pissed me off, I got a new job. But now I have soccer club and football uniforms and ballet classes and wrestling meets and school field trips and preschool to pay for. I have to have insurance for doctor’s visits and emergency oopses and braces. Now I run in to a “challenge” at work and I’m forced to find a way to deal with it. Because now I don’t have the luxury of just quiting and getting a temp job. Now I have a mortgage and a car payment and I need to be responsible. So I work harder at my job to prove that I’m the right employee for the job.

I know some people think that parents are big slackers. Parents always want to leave early. Parents are always using more sick days. I’ve heard it all. And some of that is true. For some people. But ultimately, I think being a parent really helps most employees do better at their job.

We had layoffs in my department at work today. I still have a job, but a woman who I consider to be a friend was not so lucky.

I’m so glad I worked from home today. Because remember my hormones? I so would have cried in front of all of my co-workers. And I hate it when people, especially strangers, see me cry.

Patty isn’t just a friend, she’s also a great co-worker. She’d been with the company for almost twenty years and is very knowledgable. She was a great asset to our group. And she would always back you up. I mean that in both that when you are out sick or on vacation she never hesitated to back a girl [and boy] up. And when you were struggling with an issue she was always willing to help you out. She will be sorely missed.

I’m experiencing quite a bit of “survivor’s guilt.” I’ve been through layoffs before, but this one hit a little closer to home because of who we lost. Plus I know [and have told a few people, including Patty] that I am not very happy in my job. I feel like I’ve outgrown it and am ready for my next big challenge. But I’m too chicken to take the leap myself. However, if I had been laid off I would have no more excuses.

But I wasn’t let go. Patty was. And she didn’t want to be.

Ok, the tears. Excuse me a minute. I need to get a grip.

I have full faith that Patty will be just fine. I’m sure she will find an even better job with an even better company that will honestly appreciate her loyalty and hard work. But today it sucks. I hate layoffs. Damn you big business.