A Mother's Work MeMe!

As promised, a MeMe, but thankfully I've got mother.wife.me holding my hand to help me on my way.

I've been moaning thinking a lot recently about how mothers (and fathers for that matter) are just expected to "get on with it", fork out for extortionate childcare costs and work all hours in inflexible jobs, often with low pay and little or no career prospects.  There is a wasted and untapped resource desperate to make an impact and do a fair days work for a fair days pay. Think of all that lovely tax that the government is missing out on by overlooking mothers and actually creating a reasonable means for us to work AND bring up the next generation (of tax payers.)

A thought: Our society doesn’t value or support mothers as well as it could.

I’ve blogged a couple of times on this issue, as has mother.wife.me. So, we’ve decided we’d like to team up and make a bit more noise in the blogosphere about it.

Step one is to start a meme. So here it is:

A Mother’s Work Meme.

Rules:
Please post the rules
Answer the questions in as much or as little detail as suits you
Leave a comment on mother.wife.me so we can keep track of the meme
Tag 3 people and link to them on your blog
Let them know you tagged them
Tweet loudly about taking part (well ok, that isn’t a rule, but how about if we start a
hashtag - #amothersworkmeme)

Questions:

1. Did you work before becoming a mum?
2. What is your current situation?
3. Freestyle – got your own point you’d like to get across on this issue? Here’s
your chance…

Oh and finally….Little Blue Feet, Japanese Mummy UK A Mum and More, A Twenty Something Mum, Multi Layer Mummy you’re tagged!!
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A Mother’s Work Meme Response from Bargain Mummy Buys

Did you work before becoming a mum?
Yes, I decided to build up my career before having children as I was aware it would not be easy afterwards. I got as many promotions as I could and made sure my salary was locked before I went on maternity leave.

What is your current situation?
I now work three days a week in a "professional job". I am constantly subject to derisive comments from others about being "part-time" despite the fact I am always a full time mum. We are lucky in that my parents look after our children three days a week although they are getting older and it is not easy for them.
To get my part time position was very difficult and I really had to jump through hoops, I felt there was nothing to really protect me from a flat refusal apart from my own wit.  I am constantly exhausted from trying to be the best worker and best mum and don't know how long I can sustain it for. I feel I am being pulled apart and every time I leave my children to go to work my heart breaks a little.

Freestylin’
A lot of my friends have had their part time work request refused, so they have been forced to leave their jobs to seek (lower paid) temporary contracts.  A lot of people seem to sneer at the idea of a woman wanting to spend time with her children if she previously had a career, like it's some sort of consolation prize.  The fact is that I physically could not work full time and give 100%. As it stands, being part time has benefited my employer as I never take sick days and am much fresher coming to work for three days.
I don't want to leave work completely as in the current job market I fear I will never find work again.