Working mom

So,

As I understand it, working moms have been around for a while.  It's not a new thing.  Mom's have worked in factories on assembly lines, they have worked as waitresses and so many other things for a very long time.

Single mothers, though more common are also not a new thing.  Mothers could become widows have have to go back into the workforce for a very long time as well.

So WHY is it that school have such a hard time with the concept that mom might, just might NOT be at home during the daytime????

Ever since my children have started school, I have had difficulty with getting school personnel to understand that they should not be calling me at home during the daytime.  That in case of emergency, leaving a voicemail at home where I only get back to around 5PM is not the most expedient method.

Sure when my daughter first started school, in kindergarten and grade one, I could be reached at home, but that's because I worked night shift.  (11PM to 7 AM)  I would sleep during school hours with the phone next to my bed.

Since I have worked in a call centre for many years, it has not been that easy to reach me at work, so I got a cell phone to make it easier to reach me.  With voicemail.  I understood the need to reach me.  I especially understood it where my son was concerned as he was not adapting well to school.  I have always wanted to be reached by school for my child's wellness.  That's why I got a cell, why I have been paying a monthly plan since 2004.

To be quite honest with all of you, I am somewhat of a techno-peasant.  I don't adhere to new technology just because it's there.  Also I don't particularly like taking on the phone.  In fact, the years that I have worked in call centres have almost made me develop an aversion to phones.  I much MUCH prefer emails (and maybe texts)  Working in a call centre, emails were the fastest way of reaching me because I could go offline...
If it wasn't for school, I would be perfectly happy to not have a cell.  Sure it has proven useful at the odd times, but I would have managed without if it had not been there.

The reason I underlined voicemail up there is because I work in a call centre.  If I am called on my cell while I am dealing with and important or irate client, or while I am in the middle of an important meeting, I can't IMMEDIATELY answer the phone.  A voicemail can be left and I can call back at the earliest opportunity.

Let me tell you, when called by school personnel, they don't take lightly to you not answering the phone right away.  Their urgency MUST be an urgency for all. They'll leave you a message at home or on the cell with threats to contact police or Child protection services because you dared not answer their call right away.

Anyway, back to my original rant.

Schools need to understand that :

1. Today's mothers often work outside the home.  Even homes where there are two adults, both of them often have to work to support today's demands for luxuries.
2. When mom is at work, as much as she LOVES her child, her employer has an expectation that she will do the job that he is paying her to do.  This means if mom is busy with a client, she will need to finish up what she is doing with the client prior to dealing with personal matters.
3. With telecommutes, mom may be more than 10 minutes away.  I have had many school personnel give me a hard time for taking 30-40 minutes to get to school to pick up my child for whichever reason.  I have gone through the extra expense of driving to work and paying for parking (a very expensive thing) to be able to get to my children faster as taking public transit would sometimes take 60 to 90 minutes.If it's so urgent, (sick) by all means call an ambulance, I will meet it at the hospital, else deal with the delay.
4. All the wonderful techniques they they learned to help make the child cooperative to learning (the non-confrontational methods which many teachers just forgo) should also be used with parents.
5. Parents are NOT STUPID!  Just because they are educators, doe not mean that they are smarter than parents.

I don't think any of the above is so hard to understand.  Is it?

Well I have been trying to make my current son's school understand for 3 years now that I want to be called on my cell.  Even after repeated demands that they completely REMOVE my home phone number from their files, leaving only my cell, work phone number and two email addresses, would you believe they STILL call me at home.

They call me at home for URGENT matters.  They'll call me at 10 AM and get angry because I have not returned the call by 2PM.    Is this acceptable?   Apparently so.


Well anyway, thanks for reading!