GRRRRRR!

I have no other title for this post other than GRRRRRR!  I am so frustrated with my husband's boss. And maybe it's not such a good idea to vent it on a public blog, but here I go anyway!

She doesn't seem to understand personal space or time. Working for the government, my husband is able to work a flexible schedule. It didn't seem to be an issue with his last job, but where he is now, it does not seem as if his personal time is respected. Maybe I'm expecting too much.

Let me give you several examples:

A)  Family Leave. When I was pregnant with our last baby my husband was supposed to take time off.  He had set aside 6 weeks to be home full-time to give me a hand. I know that I shouldn't complain because it's a heck of a lot more time off than other folks get. But he had it and he was taking it. His boss asked within days of me giving birth if he could wrap up a couple things, which led to his boss asking if he really needed 6 weeks off.  She also conferred with other new fathers and asked them how much time they had taken off for family leave.  It ended up that he worked part-time for several long weeks. He made it work, he always does...but it was frustrating. He was hoping to be home for several weeks with our new baby and instead he got part-time work.

B) My husband is on a flex schedule with every other Friday off.  He wasn't scheduled to go in the office on Friday. Even though he was technically off he was told to be available for a conference call. We had already scheduled to do family portraits with his parents.  He called, left a message and said he wasn't available. His boss proceeded to call his cell, our home, and my cell phone looking for him.  I really draw the line at calling my cell phone. Really? Isn't that an emergency contact?  Was it an emergency that I needed to be contacted? Really?

C) Today I had a volunteer meeting scheduled for my son's summer camp. I was really looking forward to this meeting and it's been on my calendar for several weeks. This weekend Hubby says he's got to fly to NYC for a day trip and asked what days work best for our schedule. I said "Any day, but Tuesday. I have a meeting that I'd really like to attend for summer camp. Please any day but Tuesday."  Well guess what? It's Tuesday, and guess where he is?  Of course he said he'd be home in time. Guess what? He won't make it, which means I won't make it.  His boss felt that any other day just won't do and that it really needed to be done today.  GRRRRRRRRR!  (I did try to call a babysitter and my parents to watch the kids for an hour or so until he got home to pick them up.  No can do.)

Maybe I'm just a PITA complainer.  Maybe I don't realize how good I've really got it. Feel free to tell me to suck it up.  I'm just frustrated. I feel like I can't make plans and that his schedule isn't reliable. My husband does not work for private sector and I realize that many people do and are connected to their Blackberries 24-7. My husband does not have that job or a Blackberry to go with it.  He does have a professional job with regularly (supposedly) scheduled hours.

I just feel like my time is not respected and that I can't enjoy time with Hubby when he's supposed to be off because his boss calls all of the contact numbers looking for him on his day off. I also can't plan anything to do on my own because he can't be home on time (and no I don't mean a girl's night out, I mean time to attend meetings and be part of several volunteer organizations).

Okay, now that I've vented, I've e-mailed the coordinator for the Summer Camp and told her I can't make it tonight.  I'll put on the Big Girl Pants and suck it up. But this totally bites!