Comments on: My career flashed before my eyes

By: When you’re needed two places at once

When you’re needed two places at once — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 05:24:18 +0000

[...] at Cornered Office, Mir tells us about a classic working parent dilemma, she unexpectedly had to go get a child at school at the same time she was to begin an important [...]

By: Daisy

Daisy — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:00:30 +0000

I’m glad Monkey is okay. I had one of those calls earlier this year; the school nurse wasn’t in, and the secretary said, “He hit his nose pretty hard. I don’t think it’s broken…” My principal, thankfully, is a mom, and when she overheard my end of the call she said, “Go if you need to. I’ll cover.” I will forever work for this woman!

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:24:38 +0000

Glad to hear Monkey is ok!

I’ve been there before too. I’ve found that most people aren’t bothered by a missed call for an emergency as long as you (1) don’t lie about why you were late and (2) it doesn’t happen every single time you have a meeting. You handled it perfectly. I’m glad it worked out for you.

By: selfmademom

selfmademom — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:54:39 +0000

First, thank goodness all is well. Second, I’ve always gone by the mantra, that if people with whom I’ve worked don’t understand that my family comes first and that sometimes things need to shift as a result, then I don’t want to work with them. I know it’s idealistic, and that clients actually PAY THE BILLS, but if you don’t prioritize what is most pressing and important to you then (some days it could be work!) then you’ll always feel badly, and well, that’s no way to live your professional or personal life. And, like Nataly said, I’ve been there before MANY times… good luck.

By: MaryP

MaryP — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:51:17 +0000

When I make those calls, I do exactly the same as Ruth’s school nurse. Short and to the point, prefaced by reassurance. Because every time I call a parent at work, the phone is answered by a frightened person. (”Oh, no! It’s MARY!!” I try not to take it personally…)

Brilliant quick thinking in a crisis, to email him. I’m taking notes…

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:23:04 +0000

I’m glad that your son is okay.

I think this is a key sentence: “I figure anyone who’s human understands this sort of thing.” Do you really want to deal with someone, no matter how important they are, who can’t understand this sort of thing?

I’m glad that your client understood.

By: Nataly

Nataly — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:54:04 +0000

I hate when people say this to me, but I know EXACTLY how you felt. This happened, with some slightly different details, a few months ago. It wasn’t a playground incident, something else, and it wasn’t a client, but someone very very important. And I think my heart was ready to jump out when I was on the phone and saw the other line blinking.

Outcome? Same as yours, everyone was fine, and when I did get on my scheduled call, they worried more about me than missing the call. I think sometimes we are more afraid to tell the truth than we should be:)

(Glad little one is ok!)

By: Lylah

Lylah — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:24:37 +0000

Glad Monkey is OK, and I’m glad that it all worked out in the end. Smart move, emailing the client while you were on the phone! I am putting that one in my arsenal of “things to remember to do” next time I’m in a similar situation (I think I’ve handled it with much less grace than you have!)

By: RuthWells

RuthWells — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:51:00 +0000

This is why I love the nurse at my kids’ elementary school. She opens each call thusly:
“This is Ms. ________, the school nurse. Everything’s fine, I’m just calling because ………………” Between the 1.5 seconds it takes me to register her name and then to register the “everything’s fine” I do get a bit of whiplash, but it’s a very small price to pay.

By: Mir

Mir — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:53:30 +0000

Thanks, Rachel. He’s fine (just a little scraped up). Though why the teacher can’t ever open with that choice bit of information is beyond me….