Last Tuesday, I got an email from Gatito’s nursery school that they are planning a playdate for the kids and the mommies to meet the teachers and the other kids and the mommies that will be in his class in September. For this Monday. At 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Arggghhhh! When I signed up for this nursery school, I did ask if I’d be the only working mother whose nanny dropped their kids off and they assured me they had plenty of working mothers.
If this is true, then 1) How about a little advanced warning to make it easier for me to arrange for the time off work? 2) How about inviting parents or caregivers, not just mommies? and 3) How about scheduling at, say 9:00, which would enable me to be at work by 11:00, instead of at 12:30?
I let my boss know I’d be working from home in the morning, taking a couple of hours off, and working the office in the afternoon. Then I told the nursery school to expect both A and me. (What? Dads aren’t supposed to be interested in meeting their kid’s future teachers and classmates?) I also very politely asked if they could perhaps, if at all possible, give a little more advanced notice in the future. They didn’t reply. Ugh.
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Edited to add: BrooklynGirl is right– The fact that they didn’t invite dads or give more notice is universally insensitive, not specifically insensitive to working moms!
The kid/mommy assumption is annoying (as is the short-notice), but the annoyance is just the same whether you’re working outside the home or not.
In fact, I couldn’t attend the get together before my son started school over the summer because my daughter was asleep and sleep was such a rare commodity at the time that it wasn’t something I could give up.
Ditto. Apparently the assumption that Mommy is infinitely available for during-the-day school stuff gets worse in elementary school. At least I’ve heard it does around here. Blech.
Ugh. Just making it harder for the working moms.
As a teacher-in-training, I work very hard to say “Ask your family blah blah blah” because many of my kids don’t live with mom and dad. And that is just informal talking to my kids, not emailing the families. Stupid heads. You are right. As per usual.
I am thankful for the new things I learned reading your post. Thanks.