so it kinda snowed last night. not a lot. not enough to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper.
now, both parents (and the roommate) in this family work outside the home. we have our schedules set so that we do not pay for child care. bonus. mommy works the early morning shift so that she is home for kiddoes when they are out of school. daddy's schedule is flexible enough to allow him the opportunity to stay home until the youngest two are dropped off at school, and then he stays at work later in the evening. daddy's managerial staff is very understanding about not having multiple child care options and offering the opportunity to use leave or sick time when the children are sick or the schools open late. what a wonderful experience.
mommy's managerial staff.... not so much. mommy's staff requires written documentation for an absence during "blackout" periods or when two people have already been approved for time off. calling in sick is frowned upon, especially if you have to do so a few days in a row, as in the instance of multiple sick children catching the same illness several days in a row. written medical documentation is also required for three or more consecutive sick days, regardless if the illness requires a doctor's care. taking sick leave and leaving early in conjunction with a weekend is also naughty behavior.
so today, wednesday (mommy's friday), daddy had a very important briefing at work. dropping the kids off at school would give him enough time to finish final preparations for this meeting, grab a bite to eat and begin. except... the schools were delayed. no problem. i texted him that i would just leave early and he could meet me in the employee lot (on his way in), drop the elementaries off and i could get them back to school on time. many flights were cancelled and several delayed and the whole morning was very slow, even for a wednesday.
mommy's managerial staff was not pleased. chuckles (because i NEVER use real names when i blog) called me into the office to ask why i thought i needed to leave early without prior authorization.
"so, why is it that you need to leave early today?" asked chuckles.
"well, BCPS has a two hour delay today, but fort meade is code green today, so my husband needs to be in on time for a really important briefing this morning-"
"so? i had to be in on time this morning too," stated chuckles. which is ironic, because he actually wasn't in on time this morning. nor does he have elementary-aged children. but i digress.
"-- and i don't have any other child care for my elementary school children. any other day with a delay, as a matter of fact, all of them for 2010, he stayed with the kids. it is really my turn to take off for this, because this briefing was called by someone much higher up in the chain than he. several people have put a lot of work into this and he simply cannot be late this time. if you would like to call and speak to him-"
he waved his paw dismissively at me and grumbled, "i don't get between husband and wife things."
"it has nothing to do with 'husband and wife things.' you would be taking this up with the department of defense. if i had the need to know, i could tell you for whom the briefing is scheduled." i smiled. "however, that information is not privy to the unsecured public."
"fine. someone else asked to go home early today and yesterday i approved it. your husband just needs to understand-"
"as a manager himself, he understands perfectly well and is willing to discuss this matter with you, peer-to-peer. he understands that for some reason, my management requires HIM to take off work every time. we try to work it out that we share sick leave responsibilities so that neither of our employers is always left with a hole in the schedule. today is your turn."
and i left.
