More Worthless Parenting Advice From A Hack Freelance Writer

I am a single parent but I know that the daily situations I run into are common to two parent households as well. As I was casually surfing the internet tonight an article caught my eye and you can view it here---> Dads, work, and other high wire acts

At first I thought to myself, "cool, a useful parenting article" until I read through the article and realized that this writer must live in a wonderful fantasy world where employers actually care about the lives of their employees. Unfortunately, I live in the real world so all of the useful advice given in the article was of no use to me and most other parents that I know.

I mean honestly, how many of you have such a wonderful boss that you can go to them and ask for less responsibility or a more relaxed schedule and hope to remain with your company? I know that in my current position and even my last couple of jobs, had I made such a request it would have been denied outright or if it had been granted I would not be seen as a valuable employee and things such as future raises or promotions would have gone out the window. In the American workplace, employers want and demand workers who can put in the long hours without complaining and anyone not willing to do so is seen as a liability or weak link in the chain. Year after year studies show that American workers put in some of the longest hours with the shortest amount of vacation time.

Another useless tip the writer gave was the use of flex time. Again, my current employer does give me a generous amount of flex time but it is not so flexible. In order to use my flex time without any repercussions I must request it two weeks in advance and I must also make sure that we have the personnel on hand to cover my absence. This is not to say that if I or one of my children were sick or injured and I had to stay home that I couldn't use my flex time to cover my time away from work, but if I use flex time for an unexpected absence such as injury or illness I am subject to disciplinary action because it would be considered unscheduled or unapproved time off. So as the writer suggests, using flex time to stay home with my family for quality time or to care for a sick child could land me in the unemployment line.

Another gem the writer suggests, if you are overworked consider hiring help around the house such as a gardener or housekeeper. Wonderful, but I don't know too many people here in Portland with enough disposable income to cover such a luxury. But thanks for that advice, it really helps us regular folks.

It's real easy to offer up parenting advice when your target audience is affluent but you don't see a lot of useful advice aimed at working class stiffs like me and most parents I know. Why? Because it's freaking hard and the reality is that most employers don't want to hear about problems at home or that you want to spend time with your family. They want to squeeze the maximum amount of work out of you at the lowest cost to them and if you don't like it, they are more than happy to show you the door.

So Mr. Freelance Writer, thanks for the advice, it's just too bad I don't know of anyone who can use it.