My Unusual Work Schedule

I think I am luckier than most mothers who have to split their attention between the office and home. Under an arrangement I negotiated with my supervisor before I returned from maternity leave over two years ago, I work eight hours a day in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Sundays I also work a full eight hours, but I get to do it from the comfort of my home, and in return for working Sundays, I get Wednesdays off.

This split schedule gives me a nice break in the middle of the standard work week. On Wednesdays, when much of the world is at the office, I can shop, go to the bank, drop off the dry cleaning, and handle other errands. I can also spend time with my neighbor, who is a full-time mother with two kids, or take my son to the park or other fun places. What is important is that on Wednesdays I spend all day with my son; Wednesdays are the one day of the week in which he receives my full attention. Yes, sometimes it is an exhausting experience, but this responsibility can also be freeing because if I want I can say that I was too tired or too busy to do any errands or housework. Such mundane tasks will have to wait until Saturdays when my husband is off work ... and then maybe he can do them!

The hard thing about this schedule, though, is that it leaves Saturdays as the only day in which my husband and I can spend time together. He works Wednesdays -- when I have off -- and I work Sundays, when he has off. I'm not sure how to resolve this situation. I don't want to give up the time I spend exclusively with our son -- that's OUR time -- but I also would like to spend more "quality time" with my husband. Further complicating our schedule is the fact that my husband is also a full-time graduate student, so during the school year he is constantly reading, researching, and writing papers whenever he is not working at his "paying job" or taking care of our son.

Perhaps this situation will get easier as our son grows older and more independent. In the meantime we will have to be careful not to let our one day of the week together fill up with schoolwork, errands and the household tasks we didn't have time to do the rest of the week. We must remember to take time out for ourselves -- to remember that we are loving mates as well as parents, homeowners, students, and company employees -- if we are to remain a happy couple.