Dear Aunt Jobby: Boss brings baby to work
Dear Aunt Jobby
I am mad and resentful. My boss, a VP in our company, often brings her one-year old to work when her childcare arrangements fall apart.
“He’ll sit and play with his toys and sleep,” she says. What she really means is us ordinary folk will play with him, cuddle him, talk to him, change him, feed him, etc., while she runs around to meetings. He’s cute, but so are our own kids.
She’s not the only one to use our office as a childcare center. Many of the male execs do this too, but never as often.
I love the idea of kids being able to come to work occasionally. But I can tell you this perk does not apply to ordinary working folk like me. If I brought my kid in day after day, I’d be looking for a new job in a hurry.
My work is suffering because I am expected to look after her kid. And that means I have less time to look after my own children.
What should I do?
Mary R., Long Island, NY.
Aunt Jobby’s reply: Mary, Mary, quite contrary. At least she doesn’t get you to take her fancy, designer shoes to get repaired while you run around in Payless BONGO deals. Our advice: Say you are sorry but you have a meeting (something really important) and hand the baby over to the nearest man to mind. My guess is it will take less than an hour before he’s suggesting she take the kid home.
Watch out: Baby in office
Info: Cute photo of baby by Carolyn Coles. See more photos by her at http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncoles/2390271852/ .. Available under Flickr’s Creative Common License by Attribution.
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Filed Under: Featured • Managing Your Career • Working Moms Resources
About the Author: Julie Power is a writer and editor with experience in both the United States and Australia. After living in the United States for 16 years, she recently returned to live in Sydney with her husband and twin boys (9 years old).
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i agree with Aunt Jobby – tell her you have very important things going on. it’s completely ridiculous that her subordinates are her “backup” childcare arrangement – she should find an “emergency” babysitting service – i found one in charlotte, nc (where i had my baby) and in greenwich, ct (where i live now) – you pay a little more, but you get pre-screened emergency care on very short notice. goodness – how entirely unprofessional of her! she should know better as a manager. what a terrible example she’s setting.